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ADULT BIBLE 
CLASSES 



AND HOW TO 
CONDUCT THEM 

By IRVING FJWOOD, Ph.D. 

Professor of Biblical Literature 
arid C omp ar ati<v e Religion 
Smith College 

Rev. NEWTON M: V HALL 

Pastor of the North Church 
Springfield, Massachusetts 

Authors of 

"The Bible Story" Series 






BOSTON 

%%t pilgrim ^tt&& 

NEW YORK CHICAGO 



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COPYRIGHT. 1906 

BY THE CONGREGATIONAL SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

AND PUBLISHING SOCIETY 



CONTENTS 

Chapter Page 

Preface y 

I. The Forgotten Class - 1 

II. When Starting a New Class - - - 1 1 

III. Who Should Teach the Class ? - . - 17 

IV. The Minister and the Class - - - 23 

V. The Tools and the Workshop - - - ' 27 

VI. Things Outside the Lesson - - - 31 

VII. How to Question in an Adult Class 35 

VIII. How May a Silent Class be made to ask 

Questions ? -----41 

IX. The Formal Address as a Method of Teaching 47 

X. The Class and Modern Scholarship - - 53 

XI. Extra-Biblical Studies 59 

XII. Bible Study for Clubs 65 
Appendix 

Study of the Books of the Bible - 75 

Biographical Study - - - . gi 

Study of the Bible by Chapters - 89 

A List of Other Studies Available in 

Pamphlet Form - - - - 95 



PREFACE 

This book is the outcome of a dozen years of teach- 
ing and study on the part of its authors. Entering a 
field in which literature is almost wholly lacking, it is 
in certain respects a pioneer. 

Our work aims to do two things: To discuss in 
some measure certain of the great problems of the 
adult class, and to present a collection of lessons, many 
of which have been used with classes. They have pur- 
posely been chosen from a variety of subjects and 
with a variety of forms, for they are designed not 
only to furnish outlines which classes may in some 
cases use, but to suggest subjects and methods which 
classes may work up for themselves. The authors be- 
lieve that a suggested outline, worked out by a class or 
a leader with special reference to the needs of that 
particular group of people, will often be of far more 
value than any fully prepared scheme of study adopted 
bodily. We have not hesitated, therefore, to include 
a few such outline courses. At the same time, we 
have put in a number of courses more fully worked 
out, which may be taken up by classes with as much 
or as little change as may be desired. 

We do not wish the book, because of its obvious 
suggestion of independent courses for the adult class, 
to be regarded as in any way antagonistic to the uni- 
form lesson systems now in the field. The problem of 

V 



lesson systems is a large one. We believe it is to be 
solved by experiment rather than by controversy. 

The chapter devoted to Club Study has been in- 
serted because we recognize that the Sunday-school 
is not the only place where Bible study makes its ap- 
peal, and we would be glad to encourage that study in 
the many clubs that are seeking subjects of interest 
and profit. 

The names of all the persons to whom the authors 
are indebted would make a long list. A number of the 
chapters were published in The Sunday School Times 
as a series of articles on The Adult Class. The chap- 
ter on The Modern Bible Study and The Adult Class 
appeared in The Biblical World, May, 1903. We are 
indebted to these journals for permission to reprint 
these articles. The lesson courses accompanying the 
book as separate pamphlets are a selection made by the 
Editorial Board of The Pilgrim Press from a larger 
number presented. We wish to acknowledge our obli- 
gation to Rev. H. L. Wriston, Rev. Edward M. Noyes 
and Prof. H. M. Burr for permission to use the 
courses we have incorporated in the pamphlet publica- 
tions. The book and the courses owe much to a wide 
correspondence with persons engaged in adult class 
work. 

We wish here to express our gratitude, not only 
to those whose courses we used, but to many others, 
for courteous and often painstaking answers to our 
inquiries. 

We send out this book, hoping that it will be of 
some assistance to the great army of our fellow stu- 
dents of the Word and work of God. 



VI 



Adult Bible Classes 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

Chapter I 
THE FORGOTTEN CLASS 

FEW subjects have been more fruitful of litera- 
ture, during recent years, than the Sunday- 
school. It is all the more surprising, then, 
that there is very little, indeed, published re- 
garding adult classes. Most Sunday-school books are 
innocent of any suggestion that there is such a thing 
as Bible Study for adults. A very few pages would 
suffice to reprint all that has appeared in book form 
on the subject. Sunday-school journals give slightly 
more attention to the subject, but even there it is piti- 
ably inadequate. Nowhere is the attention devoted to the 
subject at all in proportion to its importance. In fact, 
it might be interesting to speculate as to whether some 
curious scholar, studying in future centuries the history 
of the Sunday-school movement on the basis of its 
present literature, might not raise the question whether 
the adult class had more than a sporadic existence in 
the American Sunday-school at the beginning of the 
twentieth century. 

The reason for this neglect of the adult class is ap- 
parent. The Sunday-school has been "the nursery of 
the church." Attention has been concentrated upon 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

■« mn i n»i m m m— — ■ —— mm— »a— nami i miii— ■ iywi— —bim 

the little children. It is interesting to notice how 
the improvements of the Sunday-school have been 
most marked in the kindergarten and primary grades. 
Every one interested in Sunday-school work rejoices 
that it is so. But, meantime, the adult class has been 
almost forgotten. Patiently, obscurely, with little aid 
from any quarter, it has gone on its way, doing the 
best it could. Is it any wonder that it has not always 
succeeded, that its methods and its work have not al- 
ways been worthy of the highest commendation? Is 
it strange that it is so seldom attractive, not in any 
cheap way, but in a large, manly, Christian way; or 
that when it is attractive, the attraction comes from the 
personality of the teacher, and is not of a sort which 
one school can borrow from another? It is to be 
feared that the implications involved in these questions 
are true. But even if they are to the fullest extent 
true, the discredit is not to be laid at the door of the 
classes which already exist. The only wonder is that 
under the circumstances, they are as good as they are. 
The discredit, if there is any, belongs to the whole 
situation. And yet, perhaps "discredit" is not the 
proper word. The situation, unideal as it is, may be 
only the result of the deliberation of healthy growth. 
We suspect that here, as in certain other departments 
of life, patience with the processes of growth is a part 
of the Christian discipline of life. 

If the growth is to be normal, however, there must 
be very much increase of attention to the adult class. 
It is a common saying among educators that educa- 
tional influence works from above downward. In- 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

crease of excellence in the higher grades lifts up the 
lower. In the Sunday-school this natural method of 
advance has been reversed. This is perhaps the only 
educational department in the civilized world where 
the highest grades are notably poorer in equipment 
and method than the lower. Many a church has a 
Sunday-school of which it is proud. The visitor, seeking 
to find the excellence of the school, is shown elaborate 
primary rooms, with abundant apparatus and skilled 
and enthusiastic teachers. This is the "show part" of 
the Sunday-school. The equipment and teaching in 
the Junior Department are described as fairly good. 
Two or three classes suffice for the dwindling Senior 
Department. The visitor finds that they have little 
attention and less equipment, and are "no better than 
they ought to be." If he is courageous enough to in- 
quire for adult classes, he may find one or two thinly 
attended classes of patient and long-suffering people, 
who are there somewhat out of a sense of duty, and 
who, to speak plainly, are often "puttering" with some- 
thing that is really unworthy of their intellectual cali- 
ber. As to serious planning for their special needs, 
or providing material equipment for their use, nobody 
ever did it, or, what is worse, ever supposed that they 
were neglecting duty by not doing it. If the pastor 
will add to his multifarious duties that of teaching an 
adult class, or if any other specially prepared person 
will do so, it may have good success for a time, but 
largely because of special stimulus, not because the 
Sunday-school has fostered and nourished it as an es- 
sential part of necessary work. It is not too much to 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

say that the adult class has been the neglected element 
in the modern Sunday-school. But this condition can- 
not be permanent and the Sunday-school maintain its 
proper place in religious life. Elsewhere in education 
the most advanced stages are found to be the most ex- 
pensive in labor, equipment and careful planning. We 
are persuaded that the Sunday-school is not such an 
exception to the laws of educational method as the 
present situation would seem to imply. The disastrous 
effects of the present policy are already visible in the 
very grievous lack of trained teachers for all grades of 
Sunday-school work. Such teachers ought to be the 
natural products of well-equipped senior and adult 
classes. Because we do not have enough of them, our 
Sunday-schools, excellent as they are in many respects, 
are in some danger of drying up at the roots. Nine- 
tenths of the very serious problems of teachers would 
disappear without further notice if we only had ade- 
quate senior and adult classes. 

It is difficult to tell which of the problems is most 
pressing, the problem of teachers or of Sunday-school 
graduation. To solve the first would go far toward 
solving the second, for perhaps more often than for 
any other reason, the boy or girl drops out of the Sun- 
day-school because the personality and methods of the 
teacher fail to keep pace with the changing needs of 
growing youth ; and so the boy or girl leaves the Sun- 
day-school with an unpleasant memory freshest in 
mind, and ever after is no friend of the Sunday-school, 
or only a grudging friend from a sense of duty. More 
direct still, however, is the relation between the adult 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

class and the problem of graduation. It is the relation 
of example. If the older boys and girls see that the 
adult classes are not attractive to their elders and are 
not prized by them, no one need complain if, as soon as 
they consider themselves no longer children, they, too, 
are restless to leave the Sunday-school. They con- 
sider it as only for the little ones, and every instinct of 
awakening adolescent life makes them ashamed to be 
associated longer with children's things. The feeling 
is right. It is not to be condemned. If the Sunday- 
school suffers because of it, the suffering is due to 
the senseless stupidity of the Sunday-school, not to 
any badness in the youth. Only one thing will ever 
place the Sunday-school in such a position that it will 
not be a perfectly sensible, proper thing for a youth at 
the age of adolescence to get out of it. That is, to 
develop strong, virile, intellectually respectable senior 
and adult classes, so large in size and so well recog- 
nized in the structure of the school that they will com- 
mand respect in the classes of the lower grades. Many 
a teacher of the older children, faithful, well-equipped, 
doing work that ought to win the loyal regard of her 
class, is disheartened and saddened because her schol- 
ars leave the school in spite of all she can do, when 
the whole difficulty is that there is no adequate adult 
work in the school. The Sunday-school too often 
compels its best teachers to suffer vicariously for the 
sins of its general management ; and so in this field also 
we once more learn that we are all members one of 
another. 

6 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

It surely is not necessary to insist on the value of 
adult classes for the sake of their own members. Never 
before was there such a field of study for them as 
there is now. New light has been thrown on the Bible 
from all sides. A new recognition of the value of the 
Bible as literature has come in the last few years. 
Exploration and archeology have added their contri- 
butions to its interest. New applications of its princi- 
ples to the present are demanded by the new condi- 
tions of modern life. The Bible and its interpretation 
have taken on significances of wonderful interest and 
importance. Now, there is no place where all this can 
be studied and discussed so safely, so freely and with 
so much practical profit as in a wisely conducted adult 
class. Then, outside the Bible, there is a large field 
of Christian life, personal and civic, which ought to be 
carefully considered by the Christian Church, with all 
the wisdom, moderation and frankness that the Church 
can bring. Only by such consideration can these prob- 
lems be fairly met by the Church. The adult class fur- 
nishes the best place the Church has yet provided for 
their discussion. The fact is that the adult class is a 
machine for the molding of Christian public opinion 
whose value and power we have not yet begun to ap- 
preciate or to use. It requires no prophet to predict 
that the future will see a development of it far beyond 
any position which it has yet attained. 

That the adult class has problems of its own, every 
thoughtful Sunday-school worker must see. The fol- 
lowing chapters try to consider, though very briefly, 
some of these problems. They are practical, not aca- 

6 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

demic, problems. They are concerned with the ques- 
tion of how to bring things to pass. They all sum 
themselves up in one : How to make the best and most 
useful class in any given Sunday-school. Such a prob- 
lem is never answered by any set of rules. Conditions 
differ. The personnel of class and teacher are factors 
in the case. What is good for one school will not do 
in another. Principles and methods can be discussed 
in a book, but the application of details must be made 
by plain common sense. 

There is one question, however, which ought to be 
considered as primary to any discussion of the prac- 
tical problems of the class. It is this : What ought 
a Sunday-school to regard as its ideal in the way 
of adult classes? What is their object? How many 
should there be? What is the tone and spirit which 
should pervade them? 

Of all departments of the Sunday-school, the adult 
class is least amenable to rules. The personal equa- 
tion must always be taken into account. Classes must 
be formed to suit the tastes and needs of the persons 
concerned. Whether classes should be few or many 
must be determined entirely by the groups of people 
who may want them. Classes cannot be laid upon 
Procrustean beds. One group may want one thing and 
another group another. Very well, let them have what 
they want. The class exists for the members, not the 
members for the class. In fact, nothing would be 
better for the adult work of a school than for a group 
of people to come to the superintendent and say, "We 
want to study such and such a subject. May we study 

7 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

it as a part of the Sunday-school ? Perhaps others also 
would like to join us." 

If the ideal number of classes is so variable and 
adaptive it follows naturally that the ideal object of 
the classes is also a matter of adaptation. No one 
object is large enough to suit all the adult classes that 
a Sunday-school may properly contain. One may have 
for its object careful Bible study, another the con- 
sideration of social questions, still another may subor- 
dinate study to the functions of fellowship and church 
work, and each be doing the best it can for the church 
with which it is connected. It is not wise for a school 
to say, "This one thing we do in our adult classes." 
Each class must be free to fix its own object. The 
aim of the school in its adult classes, then, should be 
to meet the needs of as many people as possible. The 
spirit must be one of large tolerance. One class may 
be very "liberal" and another very "conservative," one 
Biblical and another social, and the only unity of aim 
will be the greatest good to the greatest number. 
Group individualization is the watchword of adult 
class success. The adult department ought to be a 
school of electives with freedom of transfer from one to 
the other as courses change, and with a keen desire 
on the part of all classes to really accomplish some- 
thing. 

For a class must not merely mark time. If it is 
getting nowhere and its members gaining nothing, it 
ought to stop. There is no more virtue in wasting 
time in the Sunday-school than there is in wasting it 
anywhere else. To meet the special needs of special 

8 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

classes, to gain something worth gaining, to make a 
Christian use of God's gift of intellect — these ought to 
be the general aims of a school in its adult classes. 

All this implies the probable use of more than one 
course of study. The uniform lesson system has its 
advantages. It unifies the school in a way which is 
sometimes very useful. But it is not to be made an 
idol. Often it may be broken over to advantage in 
any department of the school, and nowhere more often 
than in the adult class. If a class wants to do a special 
piece of work, the uniform lesson system should never 
be allowed to stand in the way. So long as it is an aid, 
use it. When it blocks the wheels of progress, let it 
go. Here again the system exists for the person, not 
the person for the system. 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 



Chapter II 
WHEN STARTING A NEW CLASS 

No two churches are exactly alike. Specific direc- 
tions as to any sort of church work would only fit one 
set of conditions. There are, however, certain general 
requirements which must be met in the starting of 
all classes, and it is with these that we are concerned. 

The first thing to be done is to ensure a nucleus. 
A class must depend for its success on one of two 
things : it must either have a group of people so inter- 
ested in it that they will carry it through, or it must 
depend upon the personal attraction of the teacher. 
Of these two the first is by far the most stable. The 
especially attractive teacher is not always to be had, and 
even when he is, the nucleus is essential for his really 
efficient work. A class that depends solely for its be- 
ing upon its teacher is like a church that exists only 
because of its preacher. 

A good class is to be a permanent body. It will not 
be in too much of a hurry to begin. To throw down 
this book and say, "Next Sunday I will start a class," 
may begin a good class, but it is much more liable to 
begin a fiasco. Quiet planning for a few weeks or 
months is more likely to result in success. 

Probably more classes fail because of general vague- 
ness than for any other reason. Your class is to study 

n 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

the Bible; but the Bible is a large subject, and the term 
conveys a rather indefinite notion to most people. 
Many would not be particularly interested in the prop- 
osition to join a class for Bible study who would be 
glad to study Acts, or John, or the Book of Job. The 
class must actually do its work on some definite part 
of the Bible. Why not make a definite plan ? A Bible 
class must be differentiated sharply, in the formation 
of its plan, from a social club. The social club has its 
reason for being in the good-fellowship of its mem- 
bers. The question of what its program shall be is 
a secondary consideration. This is not the case with 
the Bible class. Its attraction lies in its program, and 
that will be more attractive if made somewhat definite. 

Although a Bible class should be a permanent in- 
stitution, it does not follow that the particular Bible 
class you start must of necessity be permanent. In 
fact, a class will often be much easier to start, and 
much more successful, if it is limited in time. Many 
a busy person will find time to study Acts for three 
months who would hesitate to mortgage an indefinite 
future to Bible study. Such a plan will hold a class to 
definite progress by the feeling that so much ground is 
to be covered in so much time. It gives opportunity 
for some change of personnel with the close of one 
course, even if another immediately begins, without the 
friction which might otherwise arise. There is no dis- 
grace in a Bible class for a definite course which shall 
then stop. Another one next year may be its outcome. 

A Bible class must have endurable conditions. It 
cannot do work when set in the midst of confusion. 

12 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

Every part of the class must be able to hear what is 
said in every other part. It needs the entire time of 
the Sunday-school for the lesson in hand. The open- 
ing and closing exercises of the average Sunday- 
school, not to speak of occasional addresses appropriate 
enough for the school, are a stumbling-block to the 
earnest adult class that wants to spend its time in Bible 
study. How far these conditions can, if necessary, be 
sacrificed, each class must decide for itself; but every 
class has its own threshold of convenience, below 
which it is impossible to fall and make the work worth 
doing. In all other things we recognize that there is a 
limit at which we can say that, if the work is not 
done better than this, it had better not be done at 
all. Many people seem to suppose that there is no 
such limit in Bible teaching; that it is better to do it 
somehow, no matter how poorly or under what con- 
ditions, than not to do it at all. This is not true of 
adult Bible teaching, whatever may be the case with 
other grades. A class working below the limit of en- 
durable conditions becomes a hindrance to Bible study. 

Suppose, now, we have ensured a nucleus, a definite 
plan, and endurable conditions, how shall the class ac- 
tually be started ? 

There are only two ways of starting anything. One 
is to begin large, with all the prestige and influence 
and numbers which can be gathered; to "start off 
well." The other is to begin modestly, with only the 
people who are really interested, and to allow it to 
grow by its own merits. Which is the fitting way to 
begin a Bible class? 

13 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

The first method is appropriate to a movement that 
must command a speedy and wide-spread interest for 
its success, or that depends on the popularity of a 
single event. It is a good plan for a county fair. But 
these are not the conditions of success in a Bible class. 
That demands genuine personal interest in its work, 
some homogeneity of spirit, and may be expected to 
grow quietly and more by natural selective process 
than by public advertising. The second method of 
beginning is much more appropriate to it. A Bible 
class belongs to the category of movements of thought, 
and all such movements are hindered more than helped 
by extravagant or artificial popular interest in their 
beginnings. 

Yet the temptations in this matter are very great. 
Let us put the warnings against them in a series of 
"don'ts." 

Don't think you must "start big/' 

Don't let any one else think that if you do not "start 
big" you fail. 

Don't try to get everybody in. Some good people 
will never want to join a Bible class. Do not judge 
them as lacking interest in the Bible. They may be 
getting quite as much out of it in some other way. 

Don't try to appeal to everybody. If you do, your 
appeal will be too indefinite to be forceful with any 
one. One advantage of a limited plan is that it makes 
a definite appeal to a certain interest. 

Don't let your pastor, in announcing the class, urge 
"everybody to come." You do not want everybody. 

14 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

You want those interested in a particular section of 
Bible study. 

Don't set your ideal in numbers. Make the class the 
most profitable Bible study that its members ever came 
in contact with, and it will win its own proper con- 
stituency. 



15 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 



Chapter III 

WHO SHOULD TEACH THE CLASS 

Who shall teach the Bible class ? The best person 
that can be found. But how discover the best per- 
son? By what marks may he be known? That is a 
more difficult question to answer. After all, the only 
sure test of a teacher lies in the teaching. The quali- 
ties which make up a good teacher are capable of such 
a variety of combinations that it is quite impossible to 
say beforehand, with perfect assurance, whether any 
person will succeed or not as a teacher. Still, there 
are certain qualities which are essential to the success 
of a teacher of a Bible class. 

i. He must be a person whose judgment the class 
will respect. A Bible class, if it does worthy work, 
will find itself in contact with subjects of difficulty 
and delicacy. Sometimes it will glance at them and 
pass on; sometimes it will discuss them frankly and 
fully. To do either wisely requires judgment, and the 
class must have confidence in that judgment. The 
primary requisite of successful teaching in any volun- 
teer class is rapport between teacher and class. 

2. He must be a person of broad sympathies. The 
Bible class will probably include people of different 
ways of thinking. It certainly ought to put before its 

17 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

members different views on many subjects. Its teach- 
er must be sympathetic with all honest efforts to find 
the truth. Next to confidence in the teacher's judg- 
ment, a class must have confidence in the teacher's 
fairness ; and, many character sketches in literature to 
the contrary notwithstanding, genuine fairness is im- 
possible without sympathy. 

3. He must be a person who knows how to learn t 
The man who has got through doing his thinking, 
who has all his ideas nicely wrapped up and laid away 
on their shelves, to be taken down and exhibited on 
occasion, is not the man to teach the Bible. The Bible 
is a subject for a lifelong progress in study. Many 
good people, who might otherwise be excellent Bible- 
class teachers, are hopelessly disqualified because they 
regard their ideas about the Bible as a closed system. 
They welcome new views on other subjects, but not 
on this. It is too bad, but such persons must be laid on 
the shelf along with their ideas. The Bible class has 
no use for their teaching, no matter how true their 
conceptions may be. 

4. He must be a person who is interested in the 
Bible. I do not say who is a Biblical scholar, but one 
who is sufficiently interested in the Bible so that he 
can, in time, become a Biblical scholar. The present 
situation is rather peculiar. Some of the best candi- 
dates for Bible-class teachers are people who do not 
know very much about the Bible. They are intelli- 
gent Christian people of scholarly tastes, much inter- 
ested in the Bible, but really, as they themselves say, 

18 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

not knowing enough about it to be able to teach it. 
The question is not, therefore, What do they know 
now ? but, What will their interest impel them to learn ? 

The presumption of good teaching will be against 
the person whose main qualification is the verbatim 
text knowledge of the Bible which was the ideal of the 
last generation. Unless counteracted by other influ- 
ences, this knowledge will mean the closing of the door 
to other and more important knowledge. 

I have not said that he must have the teaching in- 
stinct. It is true that he must have it, but how shall 
that be discovered without trial? I have not said that 
he must be spiritual in his interpretation of the Bible. 
If he has the teachableness of a true teacher, he will 
become spiritual ; for few people can help others study 
the Bible without finding themselves drawn nearer to 
God. I have not said that he must know the Bible 
better than his class. That may be a matter of time. 
Not present knowledge, but spirit; not achievement, 
but possibilities, are to be looked for in searching for 
the best teacher. 

The answer to the question "who" has, after all, been 
in terms of quality. So it must always be. There is 
no ex-oMcio test of a Bible-class teacher. He is not 
necessarily the pastor, nor a prominent Sunday-school 
worker, nor a pillar in the church. He may not be in 
the Sunday-school at all, and may be very much sur- 
prised when asked to teach. It is possible that "he" 
may be "she." Yet generally, other things being 
equal, it is better to have a man than a woman. The 
advanced work of the Sunday-school needs the mascu- 

19 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

line element. Most churches have the proper man 
somewhere, but he is not always the first man who 
would come to the mind of the officers of the school. 
It is not always easy to find him. Wanted : A man to 
discover the Bible-class teacher. 

But what can the Bible class do when no good 
teacher is available? There are hundreds of schools 
that are very much discouraged over the possibilities 
of a good Bible class. They have no teacher for it. 
Not only is there no expert Bible scholar at command, 
but there is no one who has both the leisure time and 
the requisite education to become a Bible scholar. If 
the success of the Bible class depends upon the posses- 
sion of an adequately equipped teacher, their case is 
hopeless. 

Is a teacher necessary? If the question concerned 
a class of children or young people in the formative 
stage, the answer could only be "Yes." The class 
could not proceed without a teacher, and if a good 
teacher could not be had, a poorer one must be used. 
The conditions of the adult class are different. Let us 
analyze the situation, and see what the teacher may do 
for such a class. 

i. He may bring them knowledge. If he is an 
expert Bible student, that is his business. Still, the 
class can get along without it. They know something 
of the subject already. The work is not like learning 
a new language. They can, if necessary, pool their 
knowledge, and get along without the contribution 
of distinctly new knowledge by their teacher. 

20 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

2. He may plan their work. Certainly the wise 
Bible class will get some plan of work. It will set 
before itself a few things that it will aim to get from 
the course of study, and not go blundering and stum- 
bling about in the broad field of the International or 
any other lesson system without a definite and coherent 
plan. 

But is it necessary that any one person should plan 
the work ? How would it do, if there is no one person 
available, to put it in commission? Suppose three or 
four members of the class were appointed for the 
year to keep the work of the class well in hand and 
arranged a sufficient time previous. Really, a teacher 
is not necessary for this. 

3. He may open up, by question, talk, or otherwise, 
the subject of each lesson. Usually, this is his main 
work. Very likely the chief difficulty is to find a per- 
son who can do this, for to do it well requires con- 
siderable teaching skill and a great deal of time in 
preparation. 

But is it necessary that the same person should al- 
ways open up the lesson ? Why should not Mr. A 

do it one week and Miss B the next? It may be 

neither would have the time nor ability to prepare a 
fresh and interesting presentation of the lesson every 
week, and yet, if they knew it a month or two in ad- 
vance, they might be able to make, for that one lesson, 
a preparation of which no one need be ashamed. It 
need not be a "paper." It might be a series of ques- 
tions — anything to get the facts of the lesson before 

21 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

the class. Meantime, how it would enrich, for the one 
who did it, the study of all the other lessons ! 

4. He may preside, and guide the discussion. This 
is, after all, the most important function of a teacher. 
It requires personality and tact to do it successfully, 
but it does not require Biblical knowledge. It may, 
perhaps, properly be objected that, if he does not teach, 
he should not be called a teacher. Very well ; let him be 
called the chairman of the Bible class, or even the 
president of the Bible club. Thereby the whole diffi- 
culty is sometimes solved at a stroke. Many a church 
that cannot procure an expert Bible-class teacher can 
easily find an excellent Bible-club president. 

If necessary, even he can be dispensed with. Plenty 
of clubs for the study of other subjects exist without 
skilled presidents. Any device that such clubs find 
practical the club for the study of the Bible will find 
practical. Class or club, what difference how we call 
it? Class emphasizes the teaching, club emphasizes 
the common interest in one subject. If we cannot have 
a Bible class with a good teacher, we can have a Bible 
club with no teacher, and we can do a great deal of 
very excellent work in it. 

The Bible class can never afford to have a poor 
teacher, but it can do very well with no teacher at all. 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 



Chapter IV 

THE MINISTER AND THE CLASS 

Should the minister teach the Bible class ? No, not 
if it can be avoided. The average minister has enough 
to do besides. In many Sunday-schools the class comes 
after the morning service, at the hour when the min- 
ister is often more exhausted than at any other hour 
in the week. It demands, especially if it be a large 
class in which discussion is free, the very best ener- 
gies of its teacher, and the keen edge of the minister's 
energy has already gone. The average minister will 
teach his Bible class on energy borrowed from his 
nervous reserve. This much can be said from his side ; 
but there is' also something to be said from the side of 
the class. 

It may be true that the minister knows more about 
the Bible than any one else in the church, but it does 
not follow that he is the best teacher. In a broad 
sense, the pastor's work is a work of teaching, but in 
the narrower sense many an excellent pastor and 
preacher would make a very poor teacher. The 
preaching instinct is akin to the teaching instinct, but 
it is not the same. The preacher must know how to 
give, but the teacher must know how to give and take, 
and the qualities needed to do the two successfully are 

23 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

different. Moreover, the sermon-writing habit is not 
the best training for the needs of teaching. So one 
must not expect that the minister will be the best 
teacher by a sort of ex-ofhcio right. He may be, but 
it is not to be reckoned against him if he is not. 

A Bible class should be the place where all sorts of 
Biblical and theological questions may be freely 
opened, where any opinions may be presented and dis- 
cussed, so long as it is done sympathetically and rev- 
erently. It may sometimes be better for freedom of 
discussion that the man who leads it should not stand 
as the church's official representative of sound ortho- 
doxy. What a minister says on debated points of the- 
ology in the fragmentary way which discussion makes 
necessary, might easily misrepresent his real thought. 
Good people will sometimes leap to conclusions about 
what a man thinks on rather meager grounds, and a 
church is naturally sensitive about its minister's theol- 
ogy. By his very position, a minister is somewhat less 
free to present all sides of a debated subject without 
misunderstanding than a Bible-class teacher should be. 

Still more important is the principle that it is always 
better for a leader to train workers than to do all the 
work himself. He may be worth a great deal more to 
the class standing behind the teacher than he could 
be when teaching; then when he is not at hand the 
class does not go to pieces because no one can take the 
minister's place. 

Are there no circumstances when a minister may 
teach a class? Yes, there are several. First, when he 
is a born teacher and loves the work. Such a man 

24 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

may add much to his power through his Bible class, 
but he must count the cost, and decide if this is the 
best way to use his energy. Second, when he wants to 
get hold of a certain group of persons, like some par- 
ticular group of young men, and takes the Bible class 
to do it. Then the class becomes part of his pastoral 
machinery. This, however, is .iot a typical class. That 
has for its purpose the study of the Bible; this, the 
personal influence of the minister. Still, that need not 
impair the value of its Bible study. Third, when the 
class wishes to take up some subject with which he is 
specially familiar. There may come a time when the 
class wishes to study some phase of the modern views 
of the Bible, or the teaching of Paul, or the develop- 
ment of religion in the Old Testament, or some one of 
a dozen other things which need special training to 
grasp them properly and to teach them, and the min- 
ister may be exactly the right teacher for the class 
then. 

How may the minister best help the Bible class 
which he does not teach? First, the Bible class is a 
part of the work of his parish. He will take the same 
interest in it that he does in the rest of his parish 
work. Perhaps, because it is specially concerned with 
the Bible, which is the one book to which his own study 
is pledged, he will take special interest in it. He will 
give it his moral support, and regard it as of impor- 
tance among the agencies of his parish. 

Second, he will be careful and scholarly in his own 
use of the Bible. A teacher that is trying to do thor- 
ough and earnest study in his class is very much but- 

25 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

tmim. Mi-fmyrmj] urn i iini i»icgg^nrmn LH" t u_ u., ■ ■ j i b » .i i m an— miii— ■ i i 

tressed in his position if the pulpit gives evidence of 
the same kind of work in the pastor's study. On the 
other hand, a Bible class may become, entirely against 
its will, an element undermining the minister's influ- 
ence, if the people, having learned in it what careful 
modern Bible study is, discover that their pastor's 
treatment of Scripture is slipshod or antiquated. A 
good Bible class is a thing for a lazy minister to fear. 
It should never combat him ; if it does, its influence is 
properly gone. But it will necessarily and inevitably 
expose him. It cannot help it. 

Third, he may occasionally give some special topic 
to the class. In this way they can get the value of his 
Biblical study on points where they need it, and yet 
not put upon him the burden of teaching regularly. 

Fourth, and perhaps of most importance, he may 
help teacher and class with counsel and books, so that 
they will not follow false or unprofitable tracks in the 
somewhat tangled field of Biblical scholarship. He 
may help them translate Biblical narrative into terms 
of spiritual value, and so may assist the class to find 
what no class ought to be content to miss, the genuine 
religious significance of the Biblical material which 
they study. 

There is at present a great desire among ministers 
that their people should know the Bible better. The 
best aid a clergyman can have in this matter is a good 
Bible class. He may, perhaps, not teach it, but he cer- 
tainly should lovingly, thoughtfully and prayerfully 
pastor it. 



26 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 



Chapter V 

THE TOOLS AND THE WORKSHOP 

It is better, of course, to have a separate room for 
the adult class. The modern Sunday-school accom- 
modations fortunately provide with some degree of 
adequacy the facilities for teaching*. A blackboard 
is indispensable. The setting down of the lesson 
heads, the making of diagrams and maps, the writing 
out of striking phrases, have a value which no true 
teacher will neglect. A good set of maps should be 
provided. For some courses a cheap note-book and 
pencil should be given to each person at the beginning 
of the lesson. These may be collected at the close, 
the note-book being the personal property of the 
scholar at the end of the course. If it is impossible to 
provide a separate room, a blackboard may still be used 
and over this maps may be hung. 

The adult class should make a freer use of printers 
ink. It pays to advertise the class thoroughly and 
persistently. At the beginning of the course an at- 
tractive announcement in the best style of the printer's 
art should be sent to each person in the church who 
may be interested. Follow this up by an occasional 
postal card when some particularly interesting subject 
is to be discussed. 

27 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

In courses on the books of Amos and of Mark the 
writer had printed for his adult class a special edition 
of each book. The Amos was especially satisfactory. 
It had heavy paper covers with "The Message of 
Amos" and the inscription, "The voice of one crying 
in the wilderness," in bold type. The paper was heavy 
with broad margins. It was divided into sections, each 
section preceded by a title page with appropriate quo- 
tations from modern writers, altogether after the 
fashion of the best modern book printing. This book 
added very greatly to the interest of the class. The 
Mark was equally successful. It was bound in blue 
paper with an embossed title. One business man told 
the writer that he took it home the first day and read 
it through at one sitting with greater interest than he 
had previously found in any part of the Bible. The 
expense is, of course, a serious question. It might be 
prohibitive in the city, but in the small towns and 
country villages there are often printers of no little 
taste and ability who are glad in some "slack" season 
to undertake a matter of this kind at prices surpris- 
ingly moderate. Any of the smaller books of the Bible 
may be printed in this way to very great advantage. 
The text comes then with the freshness of a revela- 
tion. To a certain degree a similar result is obtained 
by the use of Moulton's Modern Readers' Bible. There 
is always a signal advantage in having a definite text 
in the hands of each pupil. 

It should always be borne in mind that a definite re- 
sult in training should be sought in the adult class. 
Whatever apparatus then is found useful in modern 

28 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

educational methods will, in general, be useful in this 
class. The teacher would do well to visit a class-room 
in college or the higher grade of schools to study 
methods and apparatus. 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 



Chapter VI 

THINGS OUTSIDE THE LESSON 

Shall an adult class have an organization and a social 
life? Adult classes have shared in the present ten- 
dency to organization. Probably most of the very 
large and successful classes are furnished with officers 
and a more or less elaborate organization. Almost 
as frequent is the use of social means as an instrument 
of class development. Naturally the two go together. 
Where a class has social duties and a multitude of 
business that must be attended to, the ordinary eco- 
nomics of life suggest the value of organization. Bed- 
sides, the class which has the kind of spirit and 
membership that desires the one is very apt to find the 
other attractive. 

There is no conclusive and universal answer to the 
question of the value of these things. He who would 
unqualifiedly either commend or condemn would only 
be attempting to unify things that are not equal. Let 
us look a little at the circumstances which will modify 
the answer. 

The question is partly one of purpose. What do you 
regard as the chief purpose of your class? Is it to 
get as many people as possible interested in the class, 
or is it to study the Bible with those who care for 

31 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

Bible study ? The first may be a perfectly proper pur- 
pose. Then Bible study is either secondary, and the pri- 
mary end is church expansion, or it is primary, with 
these means used to increase the interest of those who 
do not yet care much for the Bible study itself. The 
first is proper. A Bible class, like any other part of the 
work of the church, may be used as a means of church 
expansion. It is a much more worthy and dignified 
instrument than some which might be named. Class 
socials may well, in such cases, be added. They are 
all part of church development. Clearly, then, you 
have not a Bible class, but a section of the church ma- 
chinery. 

Is it wise to use organization and social effort to 
develop interest in the Bible class itself? It may be. 
The work of the class may be so large that it is best to 
divide the responsibility connected with it. If so, com- 
mittees for plans of work will be a judicious addition 
to the regular officers. The social element may be of 
value in making the class more of a unity. 

But, after all, these things are detractions from the 
main work of a class. The situation is more happy 
where they are not demanded. If a class depends on 
them, there is always a possibility that people will be 
brought into it who really do not care for the Bible 
study. A class diluted with such an element is weak. 
It is better to have a smaller number, and have them 
all there for Bible study, if both teacher and class will 
consent to such an understanding. 

We may sum up thus : If Bible study is secondary 
in the object of the class, organization and social ele- 

32 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

ments may be important factors in its legitimate work. 
If it is primary, they should be used only where they 
will be of real assistance to the Bible study. Each par- 
ticular case must justify itself. On the whole, the less 
organization and social life are needed, the better. The 
functions of a Bible class are not those of a social 
club. 

Should music have much prominence in a Bible 
class? What is the purpose of a Bible class? It is 
not that of the church service. In that service music 
lias appropriately a prominent place. It both arouses 
and expresses the devotional feeling of the worshipers. 
The Bible class is for Bible study. The element of 
religious feeling which is the proper field of musical 
expression is completely subordinated to the element 
of religious instruction. The philosophy of worship 
allows music no primary place in the Bible class. 

But may it not have a secondary place ? Yes, some- 
times, provided it is used only for purposes that are 
really significant. It is always appropriate to begin 
a Bible class with prayer, and that prayer may some- 
times be sung rather than said. To be made of real 
value the element of routine must disappear. A single 
verse of "Nearer, My God, to Thee," may set the 
standard of devotion and draw all the intellectual work 
of the hour up to a higher and nobler standard. In 
such a way, used judiciously and sparingly, music may 
be an aid. But begin every hour with a hymn ? No. 
Then it becomes routine. Sing while the people are 
coming in? Never. That is to degrade the music to 
an empty filler-up of time. Use music as an at- 

33 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

traction to draw people into the class? No. Better 
wait till they can be drawn by the legitimate work of 
the class. 

One other occasional use may properly be made of 
music. Its chief office in worship is to express the 
common religious feeling of an assembly. The chief 
office of the class is not to express religious feeling, 
but to gain religious knowledge. Its very name of 
"class" implies that. Yet it is true that very often 
knowledge issues in feeling, and the class finds itself 
face to face with some spiritual truth whose very 
statement wakes a gratitude or inspiration that neces- 
sarily has a content of emotion. This will not be the 
experience of every week, but occasionally it will come 
to every good class. When it comes, the class may 
well voice its gratitude or its aspiration in a verse of 
some fine old hymn, and so its members will take away 
not only the religious value of the lesson, but the re- 
ligious joy of its expression. 

In such ways music may occasionally aid a class, 
but it has no business there on any occasion when it 
is not the real expression of a definite sentiment. 

Let us study the meaning of the elements of wor- 
ship, and keep each in its own proper place. 

There has been recently, even since the above chapter was written, a remarkable growtk 
of interest in the adult class. Every indication points to one of the most important de- 
velopments in the history of the Sunday-school as a result of this wide-spread interest. 
It should be said that the matter of organization is receiving large attention in classes 
now being formed. Provision is made in nearly all for social activity; many arrange for an 
annual banquet. In some an elaborate system of printed invitations, class enrolment cards, 
and a "follow up" plan for seeking absent members is employed. One class has even 
gone so far as to form a life insurance club, with sick and death benefits for its members! 
While effective use may doubtless be made of printer's ink, in advertisements and invitations, 
while it is well to have an effective organization and a measure of social enjoyment, a 
warning will not be out of place. There is grave danger that the class may usurp the 
larger functions of the church; danger that it may become simply a miniature church within 
a church to the great detriment of the larger interests of the church itself. The object of 
the class as stated in the chapter above is primarily study, to know more about the Bible and 
to apply its teaching to the needs of human society. Organizations, music, advertising, social 
enjoyment may be used legitimately, but they must all be made subsidiary to the larger end. 

34 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 



Chapter VII 
HOW TO QUESTION IN AN ADULT CLASS 

The art of questioning is a favorite subject with 
writers on education, and justly so. It is important in 
all teaching. It is supremely important in the teach- 
ing of children and youth. Whether its place is the 
same in the teaching of adults is a question which the 
teacher of the adult class needs to carefully consider. 
We must ask whether the objects to be attained are the 
same, whether any other means may in a measure take 
the place of questioning, and whether the adult class 
demands special adaptation in the method of ques- 
tioning. 

The teacher who already knows his class uses ques- 
tioning for two purposes: To insure the knowledge 
of the facts which have been taught, either orally or by 
book; and to help students to think for themselves. 
We might call the first the repetition-purpose. The 
object is to repeat what is already known. "Come 
and say your A B C," is the base of it. It is impor- 
tant in all elementary education, whether the question 
of the teacher be to spell "dog," or to write a paradigm 
of a Sanscrit verb. As teaching advances beyond the 
elementary stage in any subject, the mere repetition- 
purpose becomes less frequently needed. The primary 
teacher is content if a spelling lesson can be learned 

35 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

by rote, but the university teacher of English demands 
thought, and not mere memory. 

The adult Bible-class teacher must never forget that 
he is not doing elementary teaching. His object is not 
to see that his class knows certain facts, and to drill 
it until it does. He may be obliged continually to 
teach facts. So is the university teacher, however 
advanced his pupils may be in a subject. They are 
taught, however, by relation to other facts, not by the 
dead lift of memory and repetition. Speaking broadly, 
the adult class has no place for the repetition-purpose 
of questioning. 

The second purpose of questioning, to help the stu- 
dents to think for themselves, is never out of place. 
The wise teacher begins its use very early. What is 
the principle of the kindergarten, and most of the 
newer methods of education, but this? It marks the 
difference between Eastern and Western education. 
The Chinese student commits to memory his classics. 
The Western student is trained to independent thought 
and criticism. That means a very vast difference in 
the ideals of civilization. It is the difference between 
the methods by which Socrates and Confucius taught. 
Socrates asked questions "to bring thought to birth" ; 
Confucius made a collection of older literature to be 
learned and repeated. 

This is preeminently the purpose of the adult 
teacher in questioning. His place is not so much to 
convey or draw out mere information. Often many 
members of the class know as much about the Bible as 
he does. Even if they do not, information is not his 

36 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

first purpose. That purpose is to suggest, to inspire, 
to put old knowledge in new shape. The purpose of a 
class is, at bottom, the moral purpose of the preacher, 
rather than the purely intellectual purpose of the 
teacher. Questioning designed to help them to think, 
to call forth different views of the subject under con- 
sideration, to bring out the best that is in each member 
of the class— this is the kind of questioning the teacher 
of the adult class should strive to attain. 

I cannot help feeling, however, that where a teacher 
and a class are in perfect rapport, questioning will lose 
its predominance in adult teaching. At best question- 
ing is a drawing-out process. The best adult class does 
not need to be drawn out. It comes out of itself when 
the opportunity is given. Will your class rise to a sug- 
gestion, thrown out like a bait? If so, why use the 
bare, bold question? I do not hesitate to say that the 
adult class teacher will do well to minimize the ques- 
tion as much as possible. Let him plan his work on 
the line of suggestion rather than of question, and aim 
to use the question only when the more delicate and 
less obtrusive means fail. If this can be done, there 
will be less exhibition of the machinery of teaching 
and more ease and smoothness in the flow of the class 
work. 

The possibility of this, I repeat, depends on the 
class. I wish the members of a class would appreciate 
how much the success of a teacher depends on 
them. If they persist in sitting dumb and help- 
less before him, then he must drag out their 
thoughts, if they have any, with questions, as a 

37 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

man drags jellyfish out of the water with aa 
oar blade. The operation is not sport to any one. 
If their ideas leap to his suggestion, catch up his 
thoughts, run with them, draw them out and see how 
long and how firmly fastened the line is behind them, 
that is ''good hunting," that is sport. It is joy to be 
either a teacher or a pupil in such a class as that. The 
class will perhaps think they have a good teacher, and 
the teacher will know that it is not his teaching, but 
the class, that makes his work successful. Am I ideal- 
izing? No. There are such classes. There must be 
many more of them, if the adult class is to take its 
proper place in the functions of the church. A teacher 
can do something toward developing such a class, but 
there must be something to develop. When we were 
boys, did we not hear an old proverb about making 
silk purses out of pigs' ears ? This last paragraph has 
been said to the class. To the teacher, all I need say 
more is, aim so to teach that your class will answer 
questions you have not asked — explicitly. Then when 
you do ask questions, ask them to call forth thought, 
not merely to expose the bare facts of a lesson. The 
adult class demands a special adaptation of the art of 
questioning. Much that is said in manuals of educa- 
tion on this subject does not apply here. The teacher 
must make his own methods. He cannot follow those 
made for the teachers of children. 

One cannot exhibit in detail the art of adult ques- 
tioning. It would do little good if one could, for each 
class demands modifications. A few principles, how- 
ever, can be laid down. 

38 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

1. Do not ask questions where answer is obvious. 
The adult class does not like to be treated like a kin- 
dergarten. It makes the members feel foolish to be 
asked gravely to state what everybody knows. Be- 
sides, that adds nothing to the interest of the class. 
If, in the progress of the teaching, it is necessary to 
repeat moral platitudes or matters of common knowl- 
edge — and it often is — then let the teacher himself do 
it, subordinating these things to those which lie be- 
yond, rather than lending them importance by asking 
some one in the class for them. If a lesson teaches that 
God cares for his children, and no one in the class sug- 
gests it, let the teacher say it rather than to submit the 
class to the indignity of such a question as, "Does 
God care for his children ?" 

2. Lay your train to lead somewhere. If question 
A moves in one direction and question B in another 
the class soon becomes confused. The best adult class 
teaching is that which so links all the work of the hour 
together that it revolves around not more than one, or 
at the most two or three topics. Perhaps the highest 
element of skill in adult class teaching lies in unifying 
the teaching of a lesson. The next point may seem the 
opposite of this. It is not. It is the complement. 

3. Let questions lead where they will. Do not block 
out the course of the lesson so rigidly that it is inflex- 
ible. An intelligent class will usually lead a discussion 
into more profitable fields than the teacher could plan. 
Give them a little rein ; only be sure that they get some- 
where at the end. 

39 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

4. Strike for the deep things of the lesson. Plunge 
beneath the surface, not to find mere puzzles or recon- 
dite matters, but to get the underlying principles of 
the lesson. You are teaching the reign of Saul, we 
will say. Why should you make an adult class spend 
all its time on the superficialities of the text, when 
there is a whole wealth of significance for national life 
in it? Adult teaching ought to find its home in the 
depths of the lesson, not in its superficialities. 

5. Above all, never ask questions for the sake of 
making talk. The order to the teacher is not "Mark 
time/' but "Forward, march." 



40 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 



Chapter VIII 

HOW MAY A SILENT CLASS BE MADE TO 
ASK QUESTIONS 

Many things may be done best by indirection. This 
is one of them. A teacher cannot make a class talk by 
command ; and if he could, the talk would not be worth 
much. To make them talk by entreaty is not much less 
absurd. In social life people get so by long practise 
that they can "make conversation/' which is a very 
fair imitation of the genuine article, but a class never 
acquires that skill. It must be genuine or nothing. 
Perfunctory answers to questions are not much better. 
Such teaching has been the peculiar bane of adult 
classes. For many years it was fostered by the un- 
graded papers that were used by all the school with 
their set questions and answers. They were bad 
enough for any grade, but for the adult class they 
were well-nigh fatal. We all remember them : "What 
did Jesus say?" "What did the disciples answer?" 
"What did Jesus then say?" The idea of smothering 
the rich Christian experiences of an adult class under 
that kind of a blanket ! It was ridiculous, and it would 
have been a work of grace for a healthy sense of 
humor to have swept all this out of existence with a 
gale of laughter. So far as printed helps are con- 

41 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

cerned, we are now mostly past that primitive stage. 
It is worth recalling, however, because the influence 
of it still sometimes lingers in well-meaning attempts 
to "get the members of the class to open their mouths." 
Let us lay aside perfunctoriness and all its works. We 
do not want the members of a class to "open their 
mouths." We want to help them to the point where 
they will desire to say something. If there is nothing 
they want to say they show their good sense in keep- 
ing quiet. To attempt to persuade them to say things 
that do not need to be said is to weary the class and 
disgust the persons subjected to such indignity. 

If one speaks in strong terms on this subject, it is 
because of the consciousness that here has lain the se- 
cret of many failures in Bible-class teaching. A class 
is not a ritual to go through, but a club to discuss sub- 
jects of the greatest possible interest 

Let us recall to ourselves once again the question of 
purpose, a question which always dominates that of 
method. The purpose of the Bible class is to study 
the Bible. Presumably this study will lead to things 
about which the class will desire to express themselves. 
The give and take of discussion is, too, the best means 
of study in many subjects which the class will meet. 
At the same time it is true that there may be occasions 
and subjects when the ends of the class may be well 
served without much, or even sometimes without any, 
question or discussion. The rule of good judgment is 
the only rule that can be laid down. 

The primary requisite to get a class to express itself 
is that the members shall have something to express. 

42 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

The problem then is, how may the teacher help the 
class to the point of having something to express? 

Doubtless that problem looks easy. See that they 
study the lesson, will be the reply. If they study it, 
they will surely have something to say on it. Yes, in 
the large that is true; though there are some people 
who could study a lesson to death and then have noth- 
ing to say about it, and there are others who would 
have plenty to say but would never say it without 
further help. 

Besides, are we quite willing to rest the case on this 
solution? Perhaps in a class of young people in the 
formative period we might ; but an adult class is not so 
much for the gaining of new knowledge as for the 
stimulation of thought. There may be many people 
in the class who cannot study the lesson. They are 
busy people, and yet they find help in the class and the 
class gets good from them. The work must proceed 
in such a way as to call out what they have to contrib- 
ute. In fact, that an adult class should study the les- 
son at all is not the most important thing. I would 
nor say that for a class of young people and I will leave 
the defense of it to common sense. Be that as it may, 
an adult class often contains a large proportion of peo- 
ple who cannot or will not, or both, study a lesson, and 
to press the demand for it would sometimes be detri- 
mental to their best interests. Even if they all did 
study, there still remains the question of the wise lead- 
ership of discussion. 

Now teachers differ as much as classes, and it would 
be absurd for one to attempt to lay down rules for the 

43 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 



guidance of another. Every person must gain his own 
experience and work in his own way. It is possible, 
however, that a few suggestions may assist. 

Don't tell it all yourself. Leave something for the 
class to say. Let the most obvious things lie for the 
class to pick up ; and the more disinclined the class is 
to talk, the more obvious should be the things left for 
them. Do not hint about a matter you determine to 
leave — do not ask questions about it. Act as though 
it were not in existence. If it is necessary for the 
complete understanding of the lesson, so much the bet- 
ter. Some one is quite sure to see its importance and 
to state it fully. If not, there is still time for the 
teacher to do so. If it comes from the class, give the 
one who proposes it full credit for its suggestion. 

Don't always state both sides of a matter which may 
introduce discussion. Sometimes when a teacher and 
a class know each other so thoroughly that they dare 
to discuss controverted points, and yet discussion does 
not rise easily, it is worth while for a teacher to put 
strongly that side of a matter which he knows to be 
least popular in the class, and then prepare to leave 
the subject and proceed to something else as though 
there were nothing more to be said regarding this mat- 
ter. Some one is likely to say, "Well, I don't know 
about that," and the discussion is on. 

Don't snub any question. Members of the adult 
class do not like to seem to ask "silly" questions, and 
many of the more timid ask none for fear they may 
do it. To the true teacher no question is ever silly 
upon which anybody wants light. Do not "put down" 

44 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

any opinion that any member of a class holds. Be 
sympathetic to every proposition. See the good in all 
that is said by the class. Every position has some 
truth in it. Try to find that and state it. So conduct 
discussion that your class will feel that they are all 
treated not only fairly but sympathetically. Help each 
one to express his opinion in the strongest possible 
way. He will then be willing that you should express 
the opposite opinion strongly. Be particularly careful 
not to treat with contempt any opinion that you may 
discover to be in your class. Suppose, for example, 
believing that premillenarianism is an absurdity, you 
go into class prepared to show it to be so out of the 
lesson of the day ; and suppose you discover that some 
one in your class seriously holds it. Your duty is 
plain. You must change your plan of treatment alto- 
gether. You must help him to bring out everything 
which is good and helpful in that theory. You must 
not let it seem an absurdity if you can help it. I say 
"must"; it is a moral obligation, and no less a politic 
procedure. That way "thou hast gained thy brother." 
Then you may properly give the reasons which stand 
en the other side. The deed of trust of the hall of the 
Brahmo Somaj in Calcutta contains these words : "No 
object regarded as sacred by any one shall be spoken 
of with contempt in this building." The Bible-class 
teacher must hold fast to that rule for himself. 

It is well sometimes to state at the beginning the 
question to which the lesson will naturally lead. "This 
lesson will bring up this question ; you will want to say 
something about it when we come to it." It is well,. 

45 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

too, that such a formally stated question should be 
some matter relating to practical life, on which they all 
have some ideas. Your lesson is, for example, about 
the gifts of the Spirit. You want to find what they 
really were, and whether there is anything that corre- 
sponds to them in the Christian life of to-day. The 
last is a question which may call out a discussion of the 
class not merely interesting but helpful in Christian ex- 
perience. Are there not men now who are "full of 
the Spirit and of wisdom ?" How did they become so? 
Is it anything we can acquire? I should be surprised 
if the class did not go from such a discussion richer 
by some new sense of the presence and power of the 
Holy Spirit of God. 

Don't talk too much about the desirability of the 
class talking. If you ever say anything at all about it 
do not speak mournfully or complainingly. The class 
loveth a cheerful teacher. Plan for it, use stratagem 
for it, lie awake nights over it, if you really must — 
though that is foolish — but do not pester them with it. 
Get them to express themselves as much as they will, 
and if that is less than you would like, strive to make 
yourself the better teacher that what attraction the 
class misses in one way it may find in another. Re- 
member that after all the whole question is only one 
of method, and that the real problem of your teaching 
lies deeper than any question of method. 



46 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 



Chapter IX 

THE FORMAL ADDRESS AS A METHOD 
OF TEACHING 

Is the address form of teaching ever permissible or 
advisable? Doubtless, the ideal form of Bible-class 
teaching is discussion where the leader simply guides 
the talk, and all join in a free give-and-take, which 
makes the class more like a club than like the formal 
gathering that the word "class" suggests. Doubt- 
less, also, this ideal is not often realized. It comes as 
rarely as moments of individual inspiration. Even 
with the best classes, not every session can be quite of 
this sort. There must be a combination of good fel- 
lowship in the personnel and of interest in the subject 
of the hour which cannot always be attained. The 
very name "class" suggests to many a sort of leader- 
ship on the part of the "teacher" that involves a little 
different ideal. 

It would be well for us to distinguish sharply be- 
tween the "class" of school or college or of the young- 
er members of the Sunday-school, and the adult class. 
In the first, the leader is to teach. Minds which are 
immature are to be guided in the most skilful way 
possible and by the most direct course to the attainment 

47 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

of a definite body of knowledge. In the adult class, 
persons of mature mind meet to study a subject with 
whose general content they are already familiar, and 
often inspiration figures much more largely in their 
purpose than does instruction. This difference of at- 
titude toward the subject makes a corresponding dif- 
ference in the form of teaching, and free discussion, 
rather than direct teaching, becomes the ideal. In 
fact, one would often like to get rid of the name "class" 
altogether, and call it the Bible Club. 

Does not what has been said suggest the true an- 
swer to our problem? While the address is not the 
ideal form for the usual work of the club, there are 
circumstances when it is advisable and even necessary. 
The circumstances are determined by the subject-mat- 
ter. 

i. When matter is to be set before the class which 
needs to be put in logical order, it may well be done in 
an address. Such would be the development of any 
logical position. Suppose one wanted to show how 
the apostolic idea of the Holy Spirit grew out of the 
Hebrew idea, or Paul's idea out of the apostolic idea, 
it could be done by an address better than in any other 
way. Such would also be the case with the outline of 
the few Biblical books that contain logically developed 
arguments, like Romans and Hebrews. Other things, 
which in themselves might be studied in some other 
way, gain in impressiveness when put in the form of 
an address. I do not know any way in which a pro- 
phetic sermon can be made so forceful as by a teacher's 

48 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

preaching it to a class, bringing out its connections of 
thought and those implications which a Hebrew audi- 
ence understood, and which must be supplied to us. I 
think if that could be done sometimes men would ac- 
quire a quite new respect for the prophetic preachers. 
It may sometimes be wise to treat the Sermon on the 
Mount in the same way. Whatever may have been 
the original form of the sermon, as it now stands in 
the Book of Matthew it is a logical whole, whose order 
of thought is lost to most Sunday-school scholars be- 
cause of the fragmentary way in which it is usually 
studied. 

Of course, because the matter lies in logical order in 
the mind of the teacher, it does not follow that the 
presentation must be made in that way. One may 
draw its elements from the class and give the class the 
pleasure of seeing them fit together like a mosaic in a 
pattern. When one method shall be chosen, and when 
another, must be decided by the circumstances of the 
class. 

2. When matter is to be presented with which the 
class is not familiar, the address form can be used. If 
a class is to study the Book of Daniel it must know the 
outlines of the history of the Maccabean time ; if the 
Book of Revelation, it must know the relation of the 
Roman empire to Christianity, and how that relation 
changed between the times of Paul's epistles and the 
period represented by the latter part of Revelation. 
Unless the class has more opportunity for study than 
most it will be economy of time and effort to present 

49 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

these subjects in the form of an address. Adult classes 
studying the Gospels ought to know something of the 
relation of the first three of these Gospels to each 
other. Younger classes may ignore it, but the adult 
class should not. This also may be profitably put in 
the form of a compact statement. In fact, there are 
many subjects not familiar to the average Bible class 
which bear directly on the study of some part of the 
Bible. When the appropriate time comes for them, 
the class that desires to do good work will not wish to 
let them pass. Very often the best way to present 
them is by the address. 

There are, however, certain practical suggestions 
which should be borne in mind : 

1. The address is to be kept to its proper use, and 
only employed occasionally and for a specific purpose. 
It is not the normal method of teaching. 

2. An address must never be "spun out." If the 
matter can be properly presented in ten minutes, use 
only ten minutes for it. 

3. If possible, let the address lead up to discussion : 
"This is the question we are coming to. After I have 
stated the matter, I hope you will have some answer 
to it." 

4. Since this form is to be used somewhat rarely, 
the interest of the class should always be kept in mind. 
The address should not be used as a means to "bring 
out" an individual member of the class, unless there is 
good reason to suppose that the whole class will be 

50 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 



benefited thereby. The common good must be upper- 
most. 

5. The address offers an opportunity to use per- 
sons outside the class. Here may be the place to make 
the contact between the pastor and the class. He may 
be able to present a subject in a better way than any 
one else, and might welcome the opportunity to do it. 

6. The whole question, like every problem of 
method, must always be kept adjustable to particular 
conditions. Methods of teaching are not to be regard- 
ed after the manner of the laws of the Medes and Per- 
sians. The teacher's sole question is, How can my 
class acquire knowledge in the most economical, most 
comprehensive, and most thorough way? For many 
classes sometimes, for a few classes often, that way 
will be by the set address. 



51 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 



Chapter X 

THE CLASS AND MODERN SCHOLARSHIP 

What shall the adult Bible class do with modern 
Biblical scholarship? The answer is largely depend- 
ent upon the answer to the inverted question: What 
will the new Biblical scholarship do with the adult 
class? If the class consists of persons whose mental 
and religious attitude is such that it is sure to do them 
harm, they had better let it alone. Faith is more im- 
portant than knowledge. To many classes the whole 
system of modern Biblical scholarship would be only 
a stumbling-block and a trial of faith and patience. 
It is true that a class has a mission of enlightenment, 
but even in the case of enlightenment it is not unwise 
to count the cost. There are classes in which, for one 
reason or another, there is such a prejudice against the 
views for which modern scholarship stands that it is 
the part, not of cowardice, but of wisdom, to ignore 
them. 

But on the whole the danger to the adult class lies 
in another direction. It is a little too easy for a class 
to take the line of least resistance and ignore what 
would be really of great help to it. An intelligent 
class may well question seriously if it can afford to 
decide that it does not care to know what the majority 

53 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

of the best scholars in the Biblical world are saying 
about the Bible. Such a decision is hardly in accord 
with the general tradition of American intelligence. 
It looks rather queer to those who stand outside the 
church in the attitude of critics of our religious life. 
It is a little too much like the ostrich with his head in 
the sand, to be a wholly dignified Christian position. 

If I should seem to be harsh toward the religious 
attitude of a great multitude of noble and earnest 
Christians, let me hasten to add a word which fur- 
nishes a reasonable explanation of their position. I am 
convinced that this attitude is largely due to the in- 
fluence of two elements. One is the inherited dogma- 
tism of tradition. It says: "The position of your 
fathers is true. You want no change, you want no 
questions raised. You do not even care to know what 
any other position is." It is our boast that we have 
freed ourselves from this kind of dogmatism, but there 
is still much of it abroad. The other is the dogmatism 
of certain Biblical scholars. Whether because of the 
influence of the older dogmatic attitude of theology or 
what, it is a fact that there has sometimes been an un- 
due amount of positiveness of opinions and a demand 
that other people shall accept these opinions as final. 

The conscious or unconscious result of both kinds of 
dogmatism has been to make many adult classes un- 
willing to hear anything about newer views regarding 
the Bible. Such classes can only think of them as put 
forward with a demand that they be accepted as true. 
Now no wise teacher will put Biblical theories before 
an adult class in that way ; but many classes may well 

54 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

study them in order to find what scholars think. It is 
not necessary that the class should believe them, or 
even raise the question whether to believe them or 
not. If this whole matter could be placed on the 
ground of information about what the best scholars 
think, rather than on the ground of the acceptance 
or rejection of these views, a large part of the objec- 
tion to this study would vanish. 

Thus far I have spoken with classes of older people 
in mind. The teacher of a class of young people may 
well question whether attention to the newer scholar- 
ship is a matter of preference or obligation. The modern 
conception and interpretation of the Bible are "in the 
air," they are taught in our universities, they are the 
common stock of a good deal of literature. Some of 
them are assumed in most of the popular and nearly all 
of the scholarly books on the Bible. It is hardly exag- 
geration to say that a person cannot be intelligent on 
Biblical matters without knowing something about 
them. As time goes on some hypotheses now adopted 
will be modified, no doubt; but many of them will be 
the common views of the next generation, held with 
no thought of harm to faith. The situation regarding 
them is very much like that regarding evolution twen- 
ty-five years ago, or regarding the theories of geology 
at a still earlier period. 

Is it wise or kind, or even right, to send young 
people out into the world, not only with no knowledge 
of these views, but with ideas about the Bible which 
will precipitate either a struggle for readjustment or a 
loss of faith if they should ever adopt them ? Of one 

55 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 



thing I am sure — and I wish it could be impressed on 
the mind of every teacher of young people in our Sun- 
day-schools — that it is wholly wrong to give young 
people the idea that the investigations and judgments 
of modern Biblical scholarship are dangerous to the 
Bible, and that their design is to destroy faith in God 
and in the Holy Scriptures. The Bible scholars of our 
generation are not irreverent or unchristian; they are 
not infallible, but they are sincere seekers after truth. 

This does not mean that a class, whether of younger 
or older people, should set out on the deliberate study 
of the details of some Biblical problem. That should 
never be done, unless the class really wants it and the 
teacher is prepared to teach it. Most of these ques- 
tions rest on so technical a basis that no person is pre- 
pared to teach them who has not had a technical train- 
ing in them. In general, a teacher cannot prepare 
for this work by reading books. Even a theological 
training does not necessarily fit one to teach them. 

With general results, however, rather than with de- 
tails, the case is somewhat different. Many classes 
ought to take the results of modern scholarship into 
account. Results which are commonly accepted by 
recognized Biblical scholars should be made the basis 
of teaching. For example, Ecclesiastes should be as- 
signed to wise men of late Hebrew times, and Daniel 
to the Maccabean period. The class may simply as- 
sume this and proceed to study the books on this basis. 
Results which are largely, even if not commonly, ac- 
cepted by modern scholars may also properly be con- 
sidered. A teacher of an adult class will do well to 

56 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

know what these results are, even if he never purposes 
to present them in class. He would not desire to teach 
any other subject without knowing what the best schol- 
ars held regarding it. 

The Bible, however, is a large field. It is not neces- 
sary that either class or teacher should try to cover it 
all at once. It will be quite sufficient if they obtain the 
results which belong to the portion they are studying. 
Even if the teacher does not present them to the class, 
the study will make his own teaching richer. It is 
usually possible, however, to present them simply and 
clearly. If this is done, the great question should not 
be : "Must we accept this, and straightway overturn all 
our old ideas ?" Men do not treat new theories on any 
subject in that way. They should simply be treated as 
matters for consideration, as ideas about the way this 
part of the Bible was formed which are widespread 
among Biblical scholars. Often the minister can give 
the class a talk on the subject which will be extremely 
valuable both for him and for them. 

In all this matter, the great things to be desired are 
calmness, patience, toleration, a truth-seeking spirit, 
and the recognition of the fact that all who love the 
Bible are working together, however they may differ 
in opinions, with the common purpose of finding the 
truth. And back of the truth stands God. 



57 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 



Chapter XI 

EXTRA-BIBLICAL STUDIES 

The question is often asked in the modern Sunday- 
school, Should any study be undertaken the material 
for which is not taken from the Bible ? Under certain 
limitations and with the exercise of great wisdom on 
the part of the leader, advanced classes the members 
of which have traversed again and again the Biblical 
material may certainly undertake studies outside the 
Bible. 

The warrant for such a course lies, first, in the fact 
that in its own field of the history of faith and the set- 
ting forth of the moral law the Bible is by no means 
inclusive. It covers only a limited range of human 
experience. It is the religious history of only one peo- 
ple. It is inspired in its wisdom, authoritative in its 
moral teaching, profoundly valuable and inspiring in 
its influence. It should be thoroughly studied and 
mastered during the formative years of religious train- 
ing, but it cannot, in the nature of the case, be the only 
text-book of a complete religious education. At the 
same time the Bible will of course furnish the basis 
of all extra-Biblical study. For example, the social re- 
lationships of our modern life are legitimate subjects 

59 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 
i— i ■ i n 1 1 1 ^ — — ■ i n i n ■ rMi- * — ■■■— ■ 

for study in the adult class. We have made the dis- 
tinction between things religious and things secular 
too sharp. That is the cause of much of our social 
dishonesty, the crimes of graft and political exploita- 
tion, the dishonest manipulation of business. It is 
eminently proper to study in such a class the problems 
of modern society, but in our study we shall be con- 
stantly making reference back to the Bible. How has 
society worked itself out, in accordance with Jesus' 
program of a kingdom of God, or contrariwise? To 
know this, to know whether we are living lives which 
would meet the approval of Jesus, is as important as to 
know what he did on a certain day in Galilee, but to 
decide the question we go back to the authority of his 
message. We analyze a certain business method and 
find it wrong. Why? Because it is not in accordance 
with the teaching of Jesus. A study is given in this 
volume of the institutional and social life of the com- 
munity. We are justified in using such a course be- 
cause there is a moral basis of communal life. This 
fact is not always recognized, but that is all the more 
reason why it should be emphasized. The functions 
of communal life should be exercised in accordance 
with the principles of brotherhood as taught by Jesus. 
It should be insisted upon that true democracy and 
brotherhood are really one and the same thing. The 
element of responsibility runs through the whole sys- 
tem. All government becomes, in the last analysis, 
obligation. One may think that certain municipal func- 
tions are wholly secular, such, for example, as the fur- 
nishing of water. Surely the church has no concern 

60 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

■ ■ J— .Li»nM.i»ma« ■ — mi m mm.....-iii,., ,| || |)| i^— — ^—__i» 

with the building of reservoirs and the laying of pipes. 
But is this so? Through neglect an epidemic of ty- 
phoid fever breaks out, hundreds of valuable lives are 
lost. If a gang of cutthroats had seized the town, 
defied the police, and murdered these citizens, strong 
men and little children, the church would have con- 
cerned itself mightily. What is the difference? If 
money which should have been used to build a filtration 
plant finds its way through "graft" into the hands of 
conscienceless individuals, are they not guilty of in- 
fringement of the moral law? There are those who 
are beginning to call it murder. The city is clearly 
under heavy obligation to administer all functions of 
government honestly and impartially, and it is just as 
clearly the duty of the Christian citizen so to inform 
himself upon all subjects relating to the communal life 
that he can act promptly, effectually, and justly. 

It is not very difficult to draw the line between 
subjects which may be studied and those which may 
not in such a class. It would not be right for a group 
of men to get together on Sunday to study the details 
of a certain process of manufacture in order to gain 
knowledge which would advance their business inter- 
ests. But if the question were of the improper em- 
ployment of women and children in a certain trade 
the process of manufacture might be taken into consid- 
eration in the relation to such employment. Whenever 
the general development of a Christian society is con- 
cerned, whenever the questions of moral obligation and 
responsibility, of righteousness and justice are con- 
cerned, the class may feel sure of its ground. With 

61 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

this distinction as a basis we may classify the subjects 
suitable for extra-Biblical study as follows: 

I. The History of the Church. 

It seems very strange that the Church has in its 
teaching so completely neglected its own history. We 
study with attention and care the absorbingly inter- 
esting details of the history of the Apostolic Church in 
the Book of Acts ; why should we not follow with equal 
enthusiasm the equally important development of the 
Church as it unfolds its ever-widening influence 
through the centuries ? Can we designate any moment 
when the sacred history of the Church ended ? Has it 
not always been under the guidance of God? Has it 
not always possessed the prophetic and inspirational 
qualities? Why should we cease our study with the 
brief narrative of Luke ? Why not study, also, the later 
periods and crises ? The separation of the eastern and 
western branches, the great councils, the crusades, the 
Reformation, the story of modern missions are of no 
less value to the Church of to-day. Indeed, it is prob- 
able that many serious mistakes in the past might have 
been avoided had the Church possessed an accurate 
perspective of its own history. 

II. Social and Economic Questions. 

The teaching of Jesus was of a kingdom of God that 
implies necessarily a social order, a governmental and 
administrative system. His teaching may be formu- 
lated as a system of ethics. He was a constructive 
statesman as well as a preacher of righteousness. The 

62 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 



social organism and all problems relating to the con- 
duct of society must then be proper subjects for study 
in the adult class. What is needed perhaps more thai) 
anything else in our religious life to-day is the inter- 
pretation of all the phenomena of modern society in the 
teaching of Jesus. The time has certainly come for 
a scientific criticism of modern civilization with the 
life of Jesus as a standard of comparison. It is charged 
rightly against society that it has never really made a 
trial of the teaching of Jesus. The difficulty is here : 
The teaching of Jesus has been studied as an academic 
treatise unrelated to actual life. War, for example, is 
wholly indefensible judged by Jesus' standard of living. 
Men have known this as a fact, but they have gone on 
fighting on the ground of national expediency. What 
we need is a relentless searching of all the facts of 
life to-day with the life and message of the man Jesus 
as an absolute and undeviating standard. We can 
hardly measure the possibilities which might grow out 
of a study of this sort in which the whole Church 
should for once take modern life and test it fairly by 
the life of Jesus. 

III. Literature. 

The literature of the Bible, great as it is, has the 
same limitation which affects the historical narrative. 
It does not cover the whole range of religious experi- 
ence, because life has gone on under new conditions 
and in new environments since it was written. The 
Bible has a marvelously wide range of spiritual teach- 
ing, and many of its conclusions are of universal and 

63 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

timeless validity. But any individual experience, how- 
ever humble, adds something to the richness and ful- 
ness of the experience of the race. The Bible gives 
certain conclusive facts regarding immortality, the res- 
urrection of Jesus is the basis of all subsequent ex- 
perience, yet the idea has grown richer and deeper 
through the accumulated content of the Christian con- 
sciousness through the centuries. 



64 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 



Chapter XII 

BIBLE STUDY FOR CLUBS 

A group of men at the "corner store" of a little 
country place decided that their evenings might as well 
be spent to some profit, and began reading the Bible 
and talking over the matters which arose. In due 
time the group transferred itself to the houses of its 
members, and continued for a winter as an informal 
club for Bible study. It kept the purpose with which it 
started, that of intellectual interest — an interest which 
was religious but not, in the common sense, devotional. 

A successful woman's club in a cultured New Eng- 
land village, searching the universe for new objects of 
interest to form the basis of a winter's study, turned to 
the Bible as interpreted by modern scholarship. The 
course was laid out, subjects arranged and assigned, 
and the study proceeded through the winter much as 
the study of English literature might have been. 

These instances are illustrations of a new phase of 
Biblical study. It is study by clubs. Such study 
is not uncommon now. Not long ago it was seldom, 
if ever, attempted, and would scarcely have been suc- 
cessful if it had been. Then Bible study was thought 
of as necessarily limited to one of two lines ; either de- 
votional or controversial. Its entire interest lay in 

65 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

its religious use. Any recognition of another interest 
would have seemed almost sacrilegious. This limita- 
tion of interest, this loss of the large human value of 
the Bible, was largely due to the unfortunately narrow 
view of inspiration which thought of the Bible as so 
exclusively the word of God that the human element 
in it was dropped out of sight. The enlarged interest 
in the Bible is due in great measure to the newer Bible 
study. That has, while still recognizing the Bible as 
the word of God, recognized also that it is his word 
given through men. As the rabbis said, "The law 
speaks in the language of men." The world has some- 
what suddenly waked up to the fact that in this body 
of books we call the Bible we have the greatest and 
most interesting available collection of ancient history, 
law, archeology, folk-lore, social study and literature. 
The whole range of life and its expression, except the 
expression of the art of form, lies spread before us in 
the Bible. Is it any wonder that with this new world, 
opened almost as freshly as though the Bible had just 
been discovered, there should be a renewed impulse to 
Bible study, such as has not been in the history of 
Christianity ? It will always remain true that the great 
interest of the Bible is religious, but if we could drop 
out of sight that interest, so that the Bible could no 
longer have any religious value for us, it would still 
be the most interesting book that is open to the western 
world. 

Now all this wide range of human interest makes 
possible the club study of the Bible. There is no rea- 
son why clubs, in their search for subjects of wide and 

66 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

— — nal III M II MMMillM l ll W IHiaMBM MI ■■ N IB 

vital interest, should not turn with eagerness to the 
Bible. Some have already done so. It requires no 
prophetic gift to see that others will do so in increasing 
numbers in the future. 

There is a little tendency in some quarters to be 
jealous of this wider interest in the Bible, as though it 
were detrimental to the religious value of the Bible. 
Such jealousy is a mistake. On the contrary, the 
Church may well be glad that the Bible is commanding 
attention. Secular interest in the Bible will not be a 
religious loss. Since the fundamental purpose of near- 
ly every book in the Bible is religious, any study of it, 
no matter from what starting-point, must ultimately 
come to the appreciation of its religious teachings. 
Better literary and historical knowledge of the Bible 
will of necessity issue in better religious knowledge of 
the Bible. God's word will not return to him void. 
It will accomplish his purpose. In the better, higher 
Christianity which the Church has a right to look for- 
ward to, it will beyond doubt be recognized that one 
of the great steps of advance was taken when the Bible 
was raised to its rightful place of widespread human 
interest. It is well, then, for those who are interested 
in the religious study of the Bible to lend all possible 
aid to its study outside the specially religious aims and 
methods. The Bible is its own best defense. 

In fact, the sooner we can get rid of the entire spirit 
which lies back of such terms as "the defense of the 
Bible" the better. 

The very phrase implies that the Bible needs to be 
defended from those who would fain study it. We 

67 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

need to learn what Christ meant when he said, "He 
that is not against us is for us." The Bible needs no 
defense from those who study it. They are its friends. 
If they have interest enough to approach it with the 
attention that study involves, they either are, or in time 
may be, open to all the rich influences that can flow 
from it. The attitude of suspicion and jealousy ill 
becomes those who claim to put their trust in the word 
of the living God. 

The club desires to know what classes of subjects are 
available for it in the wide range of Bible study. 
One may answer, in general, the same classes of sub- 
jects which would be available in the study of any other 
ancient literature ; for example, the Greek. The most 
obvious class of subjects is the literary. In the literary 
study of the Bible, as of other literatures, the best 
point of departure is the very obvious one of the divi- 
sion of the subject into its literary groupings. As a 
club would begin with dividing Greek drama into trag- 
edy and comedy, so it may begin by dividing Biblical 
literature into prophecy, wisdom, literature, etc. The 
following list of divisions of the subject may be of 
value: Hexateuch (Genesis to Joshua), Prophetic 
History (Judges to Kings), Priestly History (Chroni- 
cles to Nehemiah), Prophecy, Wisdom Books (Prov- 
erbs, Job, Ecclesiastes), Poetical Books, Historical 
Tales (Ruth. Jonah, Esther), Apocalyptic Books (Dan- 
iel, Revelation), the Gospels, Acts, the Pauline Epis- 
tles, the general Epistles. This is a somewhat full di- 
vision, and others might be made on other lines. The 
basis of this is purely literary, marking the different 

68 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

classes of literature represented in the Bible. Each 
of the larger divisions is alone sufficient for much 
study. Hebrew Prophecy, for example, is as large a 
subject for club study as Greek Drama. 

Another list of literary subjects available is some 
of the great books of the Bible. In such a study the 
books may be either taken from, one of the literary di- 
visions — the more scholastic method — or from a wider 
variety of these divisions, thus sampling the various 
classes of Biblical literature — the method doubtless 
more in accord with usual club study. The following 
are some of the books which might be studied with 
profit and without too much difficulty: Psalms, Prov- 
erbs, Samuel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Deuteronomy, Ruth, 
Jonah, Esther, Job, Ecclesiastes, Daniel, any one of 
the Synoptic Gospels, Acts, Corinthians, Romans, He- 
brews, Revelation. Several of these books involve 
questions which, to the Biblical scholar, are very puz- 
zling, but they all furnish matter for most interesting 
popular literary study. No club that is willing to put 
as earnest work into the literary interpretation of the 
Bible as it would into the interpretation of Brown- 
ing can miss an interesting series of studies if the 
choice is made from this list. Surely, a book of the 
Bible is worth as serious literary examination as a book 
by Browning. Another line of interest is opened by a 
comparative study of literary types. The study of Job 
and the Greek tragedy, especially of yEschylus; of 
Proverbs and proverbial literature elsewhere, for ex- 
ample, Poor Richard's Almanac; of Psalms and mod- 
ern hymns ; of Hebrew history and modern history or 

69 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 



Greek history; of the Hebrew historical tales and the 
modern short story ; and so on. 

While the literary study of the Bible is almost a 
new discovery, the archeological study is quite new. 
In the researches in Egypt, Babylonia and Palestine 
itself, new fields have been added of very great inter- 
est to the student of the Bible. The study of ancient 
life in Bible lands is a subject which includes two 
branches : the revelations of modern explorations, and 
the study of the life as revealed in the Bible. Either of 
these might be taken separately. The subjects might 
be arranged as follows : Palestine, the land, its topog- 
raphy and its cities; the daily life of the people, as 
shown in the Bible, commerce, industry, etc. Homes 
and home life, education, the place of woman; re- 
ligion, Canaanite and Hebrew, high places, religious 
rites, feasts ; archeology, ruins of cities, mounds ; Jeru- 
salem from the Bible and from modern explorations; 
modern Jerusalem, Lachish, and other more recent 
explorations of the Palestine Exploration Fund ; 
Egypt, the land; the people; modern exploration; 
Babylonia, an outline of its history; its Biblical re- 
lations; modern exploration; the Hammurabi Code. 
This list only suggests some of the main subjects which 
would be found of interest. 

Other subjects offer themselves; subjects in history 
and in the development of thought, but the lines al- 
ready suggested are more nearly akin to the usual work 
of most clubs, and can also be taken up with less tech- 
nical knowledge. Perhaps, taken all in all, the literary 
subjects best lend themselves to club treatment. 

70 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

For clubs that are not afraid of "modern thought," 
and can have some guidance in the subject, the Bible as 
interpreted by modern Biblical scholarship makes a 
most attractive subject. Whatever one may think of 
the modern Biblical scholarship, the so-called "higher 
criticism/' it is surely a part of intelligence on cur- 
rent topics to be in some measure familiar with it. The 
club furnishes an appropriate place to gain that famil- 
iarity. Here the controversial will naturally be subor- 
dinate to the informational, and the spirit of fellowship 
and courtesy will dominate the attitude of all the 
members. 

In these days of multiplied club activity it may be 
bringing coals to Newcastle to presume to make any 
suggestions about methods of club study ; and yet one 
often finds that the mere idea of a Biblical subject is 
enough to throw ordinary notions of method into con- 
fusion. There is an impression that, the Bible being 
unique, it cannot be studied as other literature is. That 
is a mistake, growing doubtless out of the older tend- 
ency to isolate the Bible among books. There is no 
reason why any method which a club has found success- 
ful in dealing with the literature and history of other 
nations should not be equally successful when applied 
to the Bible. If the club has had a profitable season 
with the study of English literature or any portion 
thereof, they may turn to Biblical literature with the 
same methods, and expect to win the same profit from 
that. 

There is, however, another element which makes an 
obstacle in the minds of many. It is the feeling that 

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ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

Bible study, especially if the newer Biblical learning is 
to be considered, is a large and difficult field, perhaps 
too large and too difficult for the club to enter upon 
with profit. That is a thoroughly healthy feeling. It 
is one of the hopeful signs of the popular attitude 
toward Bible study that it is recognized as a subject 
whose mastery means thorough and careful study. No 
club can become professional students of the Bible, as 
no club can become professional students of Greek liter- 
ature, by what a short series of club meetings can 
furnish. But the modern club is not usually abashed 
by large subjects. It is quite as possible to deal with 
the Bible as with many other subjects that are taken 
up. A knowledge of the outlines of a subject is not 
to be despised. Of course it is not scholarship, in the 
strict sense, but it is profitable to know something of 
many subjects in which we can claim no scholarship. 
Sometimes the help of a leader who is familiar with 
Biblical study may be obtained. One club, with such 
a leader, utilized his services only for every other meet- 
ing. The alternative meetings were used for papers 
by the club on subjects related to the previous meet- 
ings, and suggested at the beginning of the course by 
the leader. One advantage of Bible study for clubs is 
that it may be of any degree of simplicity. It may 
be as informal as the gathering at the country store 
mentioned above, simply the reading of the Bible and 
talking it over in an informal way, or it may be as 
elaborate and scholarly as the tastes and facilities of 
the club members may dictate. Any method will bring 
its measure of profit. 

79 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

A few suggestions for the club study may not be out 
of place: 

1. The object is information, not controversy. 

2. The club is not a devotional meeting; but often 
the information gathered at a club will have its spiri- 
tual fruitage in private devotion. 

3. Distinguish sharply between different classes of 
literature in the Bible. They differ as much as classes 
of literature in other nations. 

4. Do not try to drag theology into portions of the 
subject where it does not belong. 

5. Treat the whole subject as a means of culture, 
remembering that knowledge of the Bible is as much a 
matter of culture as knowledge of any other classic 
subject. 

6. Remember that, after all, culture should culmi- 
nate in a better, purer life as its natural and appro- 
priate end. 



73 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 



STUDIES OF THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 
Rev. Newton M. Hall 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Excellent commentaries are: 

Mitchell. Amos. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. $1.50. 

Harper. Amos and Hosea. Scribners. $2.50. In 
the International Critical Commentary. Very full. 
A commentary for scholars. 

Driver. Joel and Amos. Cambridge Univ. Press. 
$1.00. In the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Col- 
leges. A good popular commentary on the English 
text. 

G. A. Smith. The Book of the Twelve Prophets. 
Vol. I. A. C. Armstrong. $1.50. 

In the Expositor's Bible. A very attractive treat- 
ment of Amos. Horton. Minor Prophets. 

IN THE NEW CENTURY BIBLE 

W. R. Smith. Prophets of Israel. Appleton. $1.50. 
Scholarly discussion of Amos. Sanders and Kent. 
The Messages of the Earlier Prophets. Scribners. 
$1.25. Articles in Bible Dictionaries. 

One of the most fascinating of the subjects available 
for the adult class is "Biblical Introduction," which 

75 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

means, in plain language, a study of the various books 
of the Bible as separate pieces of literature. (Such a 
study under a competent teacher may be made very 
elaborate.) It may take up the vexed and intricate 
questions of date and authorship, attempting to 
distinguish the various documents of the "composite" 
books, and discuss all the questions raised by 
the "higher criticism." If this course is taken 
the teacher must be thoroughly competent, and 
he should possess in addition a constructive tem- 
per. Much service may be done by such a man 
in clearing up misconceptions regarding the Bible, but 
he must be a person of the highest scholastic attain- 
ments, and possessed of the calmest, most judicial 
spirit, otherwise he should not venture upon the stormy 
seas of controversy. 

It is by no means necessary, however, to discuss the 
more intricate and controversial questions involved in 
Biblical criticism. Viewing the books wholly from the 
historical and literary aspects, there is much material 
which can be made of interest and charm. Each book 
has come to have its own history in the long experience 
of the centuries, as it has made its impression on men's 
hearts and woven itself into men's lives. No doubts 
as to authorship, no controversy as to dates can possibly 
rob the Bible of this value. For classes which wish 
to know something of the Bible as a collection of books, 
from the literary and historical standpoints, the follow- 
ing outline or general method may be suggested: 

I. The author. What is known of him? a. his- 
torical facts? b. tradition? 

76 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

II. Date? a. probable? b. possible? 

III. Literary form ? A. prose ? a. history ? b. biog- 
raphy? c. letters? d. prophesy? e. stories? (i) histori- 
cal? (2) imaginative? B. poetry? a. gnomic? b. lyric? 
c. elegaic ? d. dramatic ? e. epic ? 

IV. A brief review of the book, written exactly like 
a modern book review. 

V. What was its broad purpose ? What effect was 
it intended to produce ? 

VI. What literary allusions has it drawn out ? In- 
teresting traditions regarding it ? Has it had a peculiar 
place in human affection ? 

The following is a synopsis of the book of Amos 
according to this plan : 

I. Amos: Old Testament. Minor Prophets. 

II. Amos. He calls himself one of "the herdsmen of 
Tekoah." He lived in the little village of Tekoah, not 
far from Bethlehem, on the edge of the pasture land or 
wilderness of Tekoah, which slopes from the high cen- 
tral ridge of Palestine to the Dead Sea. He must have 
been poor, but not without education. He made jour- 
neys to Samaria where he delivered his prophesies. He 
boldly defied the chief priest at Bethel, and a late tra- 
dition says that he was murdered by the son of Ama- 
ziah. 

III. About 760 b. c. 

IV. Prose. Prophesy. 

V. It is a prophecy of doom upon the nations, and 
upon Samaria in particular. Its style is vivid, imagina- 

77 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

tive, filled with somber and terrible pictures. It de- 
claims with fierce invective against the treatment of the 
poor and the oppressed. It possesses a strong socio- 
logical significance as revealing the conditions of so- 
ciety at a time of great national prosperity. In places 
its tone is startlingly modern. It moves on with sus- 
tained and lofty power to the end. The scene in which 
Amos defies the high priest is dramatic in its intensity. 

VI. The great purpose of the book was to expose 
the sins of the people of Samaria, particularly the in- 
justice and cruelty of the rich toward the poor, the 
failure of justice, and the corruption of morals. 

VII. George Adam Smith says of Amos, "The 
book of Amos opens one of the greatest stages in the 
religious development of mankind. Its originality is 
due to a few simple ideas, which it propels into re- 
ligion with almost unrelieved abruptness. But, like all 
ideas which ever broke upon the world, these also have 
flesh and blood behind them. . . . behind the book 
there beats a life." 

Cornill says, "Amos is one of the most wonderful 
appearances in the history of the human spirit." 

Care must be taken in such a study not to be drawn 
into too much detail. The object is to give a series of 
strong, vivid, "flashlight" pictures of each book of the 
Bible, as a distinct piece of literary workmanship. The 
reviews in particular should be brief, not over ten min- 
utes in length, picking out the salient points and char- 
acterizing them. These reviews may be entrusted to 
members of the class, if these conditions are observed. 

78 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

ii i n i ■■ hum i n — a— — — b^ — — o— n^^— i— — — — i — — — — 

The main heads should be written each week on the 
blackboard. An entire lesson may be given to the 
longer and more important points, but the shorter 
books may be grouped by twos and threes. The 
course may take a year or eighteen months. A course 
of this kind forms an admirable beginning for ad- 
vanced study; indeed, something of the kind would 
seem to be almost essential for any intelligent under- 
standing of Biblical literature. 

Such interest may be aroused that a more careful 
study of certain books may be demanded. In that case 
the structure of the book and its teaching may be care- 
fully considered. An analysis or synopsis of the book 
should be prepared, and if possible printed or type- 
written. It may then be taken up topic by topic, in a 
course arranged to cover a definite period of time. 
Subjects for papers may be selected in advance and 
assigned to various members of the class. In such a 
study, critical questions may be made prominent or 
not, as the leader may desire. If they are not to be 
considered, it would be better to say frankly at the 
outset that the leader does not consider himself com- 
petent, or does not consider it wise to enter into such 
discussion. 



79 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 



BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY 

BY PROF. IRVING F. WOOD, PH.D. 

The following list of characters easily lend them- 
selves to biographical study : Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, 
Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samson, Samuel, Saul, David, 
Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, Ne- 
hemiah, John the Baptist, Christ, Peter, Paul. The list 
might be extended, but these will illustrate the main 
phases of Biblical life. A class to whom more abstract 
study is not attractive may often be very successful 
with biographical study. By an orderly arrangement 
of such study history may often be presented more 
concretely and vividly than by the direct study of his- 
tory itself. It is to our advantage that the Old Testa- 
ment presents most of its historical material in bio- 
graphical form. 

A general scheme into which this study may be 
fitted, with more or less adaptations and omissions in 
particular cases, is as follows: 

1. The world into which the character was born. 

2. Personal environment and conditions which af- 
fected his life and work. 

3. His youth, and its abiding impressions. 

4. His earlier work. 

5. Conditions which modified his life and work as it 
proceeded. 

81 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

6. The personal religious side of his life. His con- 
ception of God. His work for God; its aims and re- 
sults. 

7. The last years and close of his life. Summary 
of events of his life. 

8. An estimate of his character; its strength and 
weakness, good and evil, nobility and pettiness. 

9. His influence ; the estimate which a contemporary 
would have made of it ; which a man in the next gener- 
ation would have made ; which we are able to make. 
What changes has time wrought in this estimate? 
What are the elements of situation or of character 
which have caused these changes? 

10. W 7 hat are the corresponding situations and char- 
acters in modern life? 

11. What did the Bible writers wish to teach by 
telling the story of this life? 

The following study of the life of Samuel is given 
as an example of the way in which the above outline 
may be developed: 

The Life of Samuel 

1. The world into which Samuel was born: Israel 
still in the tribal state, with no relation to other 
nations. For the civilization, read Judges 14- 
21, gathering information as to morals, national 
unity, governing powers, worship, grade of 
civilization. Samuel lived in the transition from 
this era to a better. 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

2. Personal environment: Birthplace (I Sam. I: 

i ) . The position of Ephraim among the tribes, 
central, important. See references to Ephraim 
in Judges. 

3. Youth, (a) Study carefully I Sam. 1-3. Notice 

the religious home, the vow of his mother, the 
character of Eli, the education at the Taber- 
nacle, the influence of the worship, the knowl- 
edge of the nation and its needs which would 
come to him, the influence of the early prophetic 
call. How did these things fit for later work? 
(b) Read I Sam. 4-6. What became of Shi- 
loh? (Not mentioned again in Sam. See Jer. 
7: 12). Estimate the effect of these events 
upon Samuel directly, and, through the effect 
upon the nation, indirectly. 

4. His earlier work, (a) I Sam. 7. Political and 

religious situation of Israel. Does the gather- 
ing at Mizpah indicate a new spirit in Israel? 
Reasons for its growth? Probable age of Sam- 
uel. Result of this gathering for the nation; 
for Samuel. His work as judge ; its extent (7 : 
16, 17) ; its nature, (b) The "schools of the 
prophets." Later (I Sam. 19: 18-24) Samuel 
is at the head of the communities of prophets. 
Consider whether they were growing during 
this period; their national and religious ideas, 
and their value; Samuel's probable connection 
with them. Are they one of the means by 

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ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

which Samuel develops religious and national 
aspirations ? 

5. Conditions which modified his life and work as it 

proceeded. Samuel's retirement from the 
judgeship, and appointment of Saul as king, 
I Sam. 8-12. Study carefully the order of 
events ; why the people desired a king ; how he 
was chosen; how he came into the kingship. 
The part of Samuel in the whole, as a revela- 
tion of his character ; of his feeling toward the 
people, of their feeling toward him. Consider 
the test of his character which these events 
involve. 

6. The religious side of his life. Study ch. 7, the 

speeches in 8 and 12 ; 10 : 18, 19 ; 15 : 10-31, espe- 
cially 15 : 22, 23. Samuel's conception of God. 
His conception of the service of God. His idea 
of the relation of civic and social duty with re- 
ligion. Primitive elements in his idea of relig- 
ion. Higher elements in it. What were his 
religious aims? What did he accomplish for 
the worship of Jehovah in Israel ? 

7. The last years and close of his life, I Sam. 13-16; 

19 : 18-24 ; 25 : 1. (a) His disappointment in Saul ; 
its grounds ; his place yet in Israel ; his choice of 
David ; his later work as suggested in 19 : 18-24. 
(b) His character, as revealed by these events; 
his affection for Saul (15: 35) ; stern sense of 
84 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

duty (15) ; readiness to still take measures for 
the future (16) ; interest in the prophetic order 
(19: 18-24). (c) Summarize the events of his 
life. Its chief historic peculiarity, a life in 
transition times. Review events as related to 
this fact. 

8. Estimate of character, (a) Strength, sternness, 

tenderness, unselfishness, civic integrity, power 
of initiative, ability for popular leadership, (b) 
Weakness. Can you call the following elements 
of weakness : His own sons not upright ? His 
judgments of Saul and David's brothers not 
confirmed? The Philistines still overlords of 
Palestine? Give Biblical references for each 
of the statements in (a) and (b). (c) Com- 
pare Samuel with other Biblical rulers; e. g., 
Moses, David, Solomon, Nehemiah. 

9. His influence, (a) Contemporary; study I Sam. 

7, 8, 10, 12. What is the bearing on this of 
the story in 28: 3-25? (b) The next genera- 
tion. Taking your stand in the kingdom of 
David, consider how the nation was different 
because of the work of Samuel, in the fact and 
character of the kingdom; in the position of 
the prophets at the court; in the worship of 
Jehovah, (c) What is our estimate of the work 
of Samuel, in the light of the growth of civil 
and religious ideals? Has the character of 
Samuel gained or lost with the advance of time ? 
Compare with Jacob, David. Has any such 

85 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

change, if it has taken place, come from the cir- 
cumstances of his life, or from the elements of 
his character itself? 

io. Corresponding situations and characters. Ele- 
ments of the situation : a transitional time, clos- 
ing one era and opening another, the work lying 
in both. Elements in the character : patriotism, 
piety, unselfishness, tact. Any modern charac- 
ters to correspond? Elements of transition in 
social life of the present day: in business, the 
close of an age of individualism and small en- 
terprises, the opening of an age of larger affili- 
ation; in government, the close of the age of 
national isolation, the opening of new relation- 
ships and responsibilities ; in religion, the close 
of an age of submission to religious traditions, 
the opening of new views of the Bible and the- 
ology. The character of Samuel as throwing 
light on what is needed in such times. 

II. What did the Bible writers mean to teach by his 
story? Note passages showing that God was 
guiding the founding of the kingdom ; that the 
word of the prophet was the message of God; 
that obedience to Jehovah brings prosperity, 
disobedience brings sin ; that Jehovah only is to 
be served. Can you group the writer's purposes 
in the story of Samuel about any one purpose? 
Notice how it is a part of the general story 
of the development of the Kingdom under the 
guiding hand of God. 
86 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

Bibliography 

The best small commentary on I Samuel is The 
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (Macmil- 
lan, 6oc.). An excellent chapter on Samuel is found 
in a book in many respects antiquated, Stanley's His- 
tory of the Jewish Church. A pamphlet of study cov- 
ering this period is Pres. Harper's Samuel, Saul, David 
and Solomon (Am. Institute of Sacred Literature, 
Hyde Park, Chicago). Samuel and Saul, Men of the 
Bible Series (Revell) is of some value. 



87 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 



(Sample Outline Courses of Study) 
THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE BY CHAPTERS 

PREPARED BY DR. W. W. WHITE, PRESIDENT OF THE 
BIBLE TEACHERS' TRAINING COLLEGE, NEW YORK 

Outline for Study of a Chapter 

I. Past experience. 

II. Present knowledge. 

III. Strongest impression after continuous reading aloud. 

IV. Relation in thought to preceding chapter. 
V. Relation in thought to succeeding chapter. 

VI. Place in the plan of the book as a whole. 

VII. Name. 

VIII. Date. 

IX. Best text. 

X. Key verse. 

XL Literary features. 

XII. Authorized and Revised Versions compared. 

XIII. Parallel passages. 

XIV. Persons. 
XV. Places. 

XVI. Five striking facts. 

XVII. Condensation of thought. 

XVIII. Theme and outline of thought. 

XIX. Topics for study. 

XX. Words for study. 

XXL Difficulties — Questions. 

89 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 



XXII. Remarks, Observations, Illustrations, Lessons. 

XXIII. Miscellaneous points. 

XXIV. Results of study (a) respecting belief, (b) respect- 

ing practise. 

Specimen Chapter Study 
Acts I 

I. Past Experience. Have heard it read and have read it 

often. Had very profitable special study of this chapter 
in May, 1894. 

II. Present Knowledge. Am able to think through the chap- 

ter. Would recognize any verse as belonging to this 
chapter did I hear it. Have memorized verse 8. 

III. Strongest Impression After Continuous Reading 

Aloud. Prominence of the resurrection, ascension and 
return to earth of our Lord. 

IV. Relation to Preceding Chapter. A continuation of the 

record found in Luke. 

V. Relation to Succeeding Chapter. Very close. Leads up 

to the record in thought. 

VI. Place in Plan of the Book as a Whole. Essential. 

Contains introductory material which is of the utmost 
value in understanding succeeding chapters. 

VII. Name. The Ascension chapter. 

VIII. Date. About 29 a. d. 

IX. Best Text. Verse 8: "But ye shall receive power, 

when the Holy Spirit is come upon you," etc. 

X. Key Verse. Verse 4: "And, being assembled together 

with them," etc. 

XI. Literary Features. Graphic narrative. 

XII. A. V. and R. V. Compared. Important changes incor- 

porated in the R. V. are: 

1. Many proofs, v. 3. 

2. Authority, v. 7. 

3. The parentheses, verses 15, 18, 19. 

4. Office, v. 20. 

90 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

XIII. Parallel Passages. Important sections to be compared 
are: 

i. Accounts of the ascension in the Gospels. 

2. Accounts of the death of Judas in the Gospels. 

3. Names of the Apostles in the Gospels. 

4. Quotations from Psalms compared with original in 
Psalms 69, 109. 

XIV. Persons. (1) I, (2) Theophilus, (3) Jesus, (4) The 

Holy Spirit, (5) The Father, (6) John Baptist, (7) 
Two men, (8) Peter, (9) John, (10) James, (11) An- 
drew, (12) Philip, (13) Thomas, (14) Bartholomew, 
(15) Matthew, (16) James the son of Alphseus, (17) 
Simon Zealotes, (18) Judas the son of James, (19) the 
women, (20) Mary, the mother of Jesus, (21) Brethren 
of Jesus, (22) Joseph Barsabbas, (23) Judas Iscariot, 
(24) Matthias, (25) David. 

XV. Places, (i) Jerusalem, (2) All Judea, (3) Samaria, 

(4) The uttermost part of the earth, (5) Galilee, (6) 
Heaven, (7) Mount Olivet, (8) Upper chamber. 

XVI. Five Striking Facts : 

1. This book is addressed to the same person to whom 

the Gospel of Luke is addressed. 

2. The disciples, even at this late date, had very gross 

ideas about the nature of Christ's work. 

3. The return of our Lord in like manner as he de- 

parted is here announced. 

4. Peter and prayer are prominent in the latter part of 

the chapter. 

5. The qualifications of an apostle are here given, and 

the selection of one by lot after prayer is recorded. 

XVII. Condensation of Thought. 

In the former treatise, O Theophilus, I gave an account 
of Jesus' doing and teaching until the time of his 
ascension. While yet on earth he directed his disciples 
to wait at Jerusalem for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 
His ascens-ion was on this wise : Having led his disci- 
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ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

pies out to Olivet, while he was talking with them a 
cloud received him, and as they wondered, two angels 
stood by and assured them of his return. With joy 
at this word they went to Jerusalem, and waited in 
prayer for the fulfilment of the promise of the Father. 
During this period, at the suggestion of Peter, Matthias 
was chosen by lot after prayer to take the place of 
Judas, who, on account of his iniquity, according to 
prophecy, went to his own place. 

XVIII. Theme with Outline of Thought. 
The Ascension of our Lord. 

1. Preliminary directions of Jesus to disciples. 

2. The event itself with attendant circumstances. 

3. Subsequent action of disciples. 

a. They return to Jerusalem. 

b. They unite in prayer. 

c. They select an apostle. 

XIX. Topics for Study/ 

1. Baptism in the Holy Spirit 

2. The kingdom of God. 

3. Prayer. 

4. The lot. 

XX. Words for Study. 

1. Power. In R. V. Authority, Vide the Greek. 

2. Witnesses. 

XXI. Difficulties— Questions— Answers. 

1. The meaning of kingdom 4- Did Peter act prematurely 

* n „ A in proposing the selection 

J, L u< a of Matthias? 

2. The difference between the 

. . , T . , .. . 5. What, if any, use of the lot 

baptism of John and that may ^ m ^ ? 

of J esus - 6. Does the Holy Spirit as a 

3. Is there any difference be- guj^e take the place of the 
tween ministry in v. I7> lot? 

and ministry and apostle- 7. Was the prayer of vs. 24, 
ship in v. 25? 25 addressed to Jesus? 

92 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 



8. Who led in prayer? Verse soon after, (d) Matthias 
24. included in 2 : 14 and 6 : 2. 

9. How long did this prayer- 5- 
meeting last? 6. 

7. The other apostles had 

lm been appointed by Jesus. 

2. See Stiffler on Acts, p. 7. But cf. 1 : 24-26. 

3. 8. 

4. (a) Others acted, (b) space g. Ten days — Jesus was on 
allotted to account large, earth 40 days ; Pentecost 
(c) blessing poured out came on the 50th. 

XXII. Remarks, Applications, Lessons, Illustrations. 

1. Note the remarkable statement in v. 2 about Jesus and 

the Holy Spirit. 

2. Note the prominence of the Holy Spirit in this chapter. 

This is true of the whole book of Acts. 

3. "All" of verse 1 does not mean literally everything. 

Allow for the rhetorical element in Scripture. 

4. Compare the beginning and ending of Acts. 

5. Note the mention of Jesus' brethren in verse 14. 

Cf. John 7 : 3- 

6. The last sight of Mary, the mother of Jesus, which we 

get in the Eible is here, when she is on her knees a 
worshiper, and not one who is adored. See verse 14. 

7. Peter quotes here from two of the so-called Impreca- 

tory Psalms. 

8. Judas went to his own place. Every one gravitates 

morally. 

XXIII. Miscellaneous Points. 

XXIV. Results of Study. 

1. Respecting belief. 

a. Emphasis of the importance of the resurrection, 

ascension and return of Jesus. 

b. Confirmation of faith in general. 

2. Respecting practise. Determination to trust more un- 

reservedly in God. 

93 



ADULT BIBLE CLASSES 

Remarks on Outline for Chapter Study 
i. Busy people may use it. It suggests a definite line of work. 
If you have but fifteen minutes each day you will know 
exactly where to begin and what to do. Definiteness in 
Bible study, and the habit of recording in an orderly man- 
ner results of study, are much needed by many. 

2. Record past experience and present knowledge before 
examining the material. These topics may simply empha- 
size knowledge of ignorance. To do this may be well. 
It may stimulate to exertion. 

3. The best text should be the verse of the chapter which 
above all others you would memorize. 

4. The key verse should be the one which when read will 
most clearly and fully suggest the situation presented in the 
chapter as a whole. 

5. The five facts should be selected from the chapter as a 
whole in order. They should not be crowded into any 
particular part of the chapter. 

6. Only the most important variations of the R. V. from the 
A. V. need be noted. 

7. Only the most important parallel passages need be cited. 
When quotations are made the original should be com- 
pared. 

8. In the condensation, crowd the thought of the chapter into 
the smallest number of words possible. 

9 As you write down the names of persons and places, when 
any doubt exists about the pronunciation, examine a pro- 
nouncing dictionary and fix in mind the proper pronuncia- 
tion. As far as you may find time, study the personal his- 
tory and character of each person named. 

10. Do not fail to refer to map for location of places not well 
known. 

11. Do not omit to record results of study. 



94 



HOW TO CONDUCT THEM 

List of Courses Available in Pamphlet Form 

The price of these Courses in pamphlet form is 5 cents 
each. 50 cents a dozen. 

I. The History of the Bible Versions, Prof. Irving F. 

Wood. 
II. Biblical Geography, Prof. Irving F. Wood. 

III. Joshua and Judges, Prof. Irving F. Wood. 

IV. The Book of Samuel, Rev. H. L. Wriston. 

V. The Prophets of Israel, Rev. Edward M. Noyes. 

VI. Hebrew Laws. Prof. I. F. Wood. 

VII. Apocalyptic Literature, Prof. I. F. Wood. 

VIII. The Wisdom Literature, Prof. I. F. Wood. 

IX. The Old Testament Apocrypha, Prof. I. F. Wood. 

X. The Life of Christ in the Four Gospels, Prof. I. F. 

Wood. 

XI. The Book of Acts, Rev. H. L. Wriston. 

XII. The Life of Paul, Rev. Newton M. Hall. 

XIII. The Epistles of Paul, Prof. I. F. Wood. 

XIV. Church Llistory, Prof. I. F. Wood. 

XV. The Church in the Reformation, Rev. N. M. Hall. 
XVI. The History of Missions, Prof. I. F. Wood. 
XVII. The Problems of a Twentieth Century City, Prof. H. 

M. Burr. 
XVIII. A Study of the City, Rev. Newton M. Hall. 

Any of the above will be sent by The Pilgrim Press on 
receipt of price. The cost is so small that it is suggested 
that a copy of the Course should be in the hands of each 
student of the class. 



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